Philip SILVA Obituary

Farewell Phil
It was an absolute pleasure knowing you and working with you many years ago in the first decade of the Dunedin study. You remained a friend all these years since and even though we only crossed paths every few years it was as though we´d only seen each other yesterday. Thank you for your unwavering love and enthusiasm for people. You were a true pioneer and the world has lost a treasure with your passing.
My sincere condolences to your wonderful family for their loss.
Lola

I had the good fortune to have two memorable periods of engagement with Dr Phil more than 4 decades apart and occasional short encounters at the Brewers in recent years when he caught up with his Otago Boys High School old boys mates.

The first was when he was largely the inspiration behind Round Table New Zealand´s ambitious Foundation 41 Project in 1976 to raise money to seed antenatal and perinatal research. He spoke to the service club´s members throughout New Zealand to get our support for an ongoing fundraising effort which didn´t directly go to the Dunedin longitudinal study but had important research implications.

The second was when Phil was the keynote speaker at the Education Leaders Forum in 2017. The theme was Life Passages and Learning Paths, picking up on the important education implications of the Dunedin study.

Before Phil gave his powerful presentation a senior Ministry of Education leader asked if she could say a few words as he was being introduced. She gave an eloquent testimony to how important Phil was to her in the 1960s when he was a very popular and effective young primary school teacher and she a young pupil.

The major sponsor of ELF17 was the Wright Family Foundation which funded the First 1000 Days Project, a period spanning from conception to a child´s second birthday- widely recognized as foundational for lifelong health and wellbeing. This education project had direct antecedents in the evolving Dunedin Study and indirect links to Foundation 41, the 41 weeks from conception to the week after birth.

Phil touched and transformed the lives of many people in many ways. RIP Phil.

Lyall Lukey
National President 1976, Round Table New Zealand; Convener, Education Leaders Forums 2007-2022

Phil was a very nice charming man who I knew through the University of Otago. My deepest sympathy to the family of Phil and Wendy.
Beverley McLean

It was a pleasure working with Phil in the 1980's regarding the impact of middle ear disease on children's language development - and therefore on their academic success. I was Regional Audiologist (Sth Is.) for the then Dept. of Health. We shared a commitment to young children, knowing them to be New Zealand's adults of the future. A lovely man, hugely passionate about his Cause. 'The Dunedin Study' has indeed been "A Gift to the World".
Vale, Phil. My sincere condolences to Phil's loved ones.

Farewell Phil! Your enormous contribution to developmental science in Aotearoa and the world will never be forgotten. You first took a chance on me in 1998 when you employed me as an interviewer at Phase 26 of the Dunedin Study. That changed my life and set me on a research career I never knew I would have. It has been an absolute pleasure to know you and work with you. My condolences to your family.

Phil was an important mentor for a lot of us. He believed in the dental component of the Dunedin Study when the funders certainly did not, and he made sure that we were able to conduct dental assessments at age 26 despite my having next-to-no funding. His wise decision certainly paid off over the years, and the oral health research world owes Phil a lot. Phil enjoyed a party, and we had many convivial evenings over the years. I shall be raising a glass to him on Wednesday.

He totara kaha kua hinga ki roto i te ngahere o Tane.

Dearly loved friend and 'uncle', a lover of nz wilderness places, fisher, and philosopher. A 'big' voice into the night in conversation with Isabelle and Bryn, in Wellington and the Matukituki. a coconspirator and planner on how to rid that iconic river of jetboat invaders. Will be always loved and greatly missed.

I was very sorry to hear of Phil's death on RNZ. He became my husband Clark Esplin's friend at primary school in Dunedin after the Esplins arrived from Scotland in the early fifties. Clark and he enjoyed tramping in Dunedin in their younger days, and they shared an interest in yachting. We saw more of him and Suzanne after they moved to Christchurch where we were living at the time. Clark valued Phil's friendship and admired his contributions to research. Margaret

A great man.
Sat next to him at his grandson´s ( Hugh and Grace) graduation.

My condolences to the family, Phil Silva made a huge contribution to his field.