Charles Michael Silk
Birth: 26 May 1896, San Francisco, CA
Death: 12 Nov 1975, San Francisco, California
Spouse: Florence Rodriguez
Birth: 11 May 1898, California
Marriage: 20 Aug 1921, Alameda, California
Death: 20 Jul 1984, San Francisco
Children: Charles Rodney (1923-2006)
Charles Michael Silk, the first child of Michael Silk and Marie Ford, was born on May 26, 1896. The family was living with his Uncle Patrick on Precita in the Bernal Heights neighborhood at the time. They soon moved two blocks away, to California and Montgomery Streets where they lived for the next five years. In 1901, they moved to 2602 Mission Street where they lived for the next eight years and where they watched the 1906 Fire stop only a few short blocks away.
In 1909, they moved to 3965 - 25th Street in St. James Parish, where Charles was confirmed on June 14, 1909. He told his grandchildren that the neighborhood was still very rural. There was a creek that ran down Dolores Street from 18th to Market. One day when he was delivering newspapers in his father’s wagon, Charles said he fell out and landed in the creek, nearly drowning. He attended St. James Grammar School and, then, went on to St. James High School (later Riordan High School), where he graduated in 1914. His sister Muriel described him as a wonderful, responsible big brother who always looked out for her. He took her places, like to her tap dance lessons. She felt safe with him around. Most people knew him as Charles, but Muriel called him “Cha.”
Death: 12 Nov 1975, San Francisco, California
Spouse: Florence Rodriguez
Birth: 11 May 1898, California
Marriage: 20 Aug 1921, Alameda, California
Death: 20 Jul 1984, San Francisco
Children: Charles Rodney (1923-2006)
Charles Michael Silk, the first child of Michael Silk and Marie Ford, was born on May 26, 1896. The family was living with his Uncle Patrick on Precita in the Bernal Heights neighborhood at the time. They soon moved two blocks away, to California and Montgomery Streets where they lived for the next five years. In 1901, they moved to 2602 Mission Street where they lived for the next eight years and where they watched the 1906 Fire stop only a few short blocks away.
In 1909, they moved to 3965 - 25th Street in St. James Parish, where Charles was confirmed on June 14, 1909. He told his grandchildren that the neighborhood was still very rural. There was a creek that ran down Dolores Street from 18th to Market. One day when he was delivering newspapers in his father’s wagon, Charles said he fell out and landed in the creek, nearly drowning. He attended St. James Grammar School and, then, went on to St. James High School (later Riordan High School), where he graduated in 1914. His sister Muriel described him as a wonderful, responsible big brother who always looked out for her. He took her places, like to her tap dance lessons. She felt safe with him around. Most people knew him as Charles, but Muriel called him “Cha.”
Charles decided to continue his education at the San Francisco College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was one of the first in the family to go to college. The College of Physicians and Surgeons had been founded in 1896, the year Charles was born. Initially, the school was on Howard Street, between 4th and 5th, but it moved to 14th Street, between Valencia and Mission in 1899, so it was in the Silks’ neighborhood. In 1901, there was a scandal in the newspapers regarding the ease with which students were receiving medical degrees. Several administrators lost their posts and the school was reorganized. It always had a good reputation for dentistry and oral surgery, though—the field Charles had chosen to follow.
Charles did well in college and was known as conscientious and studious. He was a member of Psi Omega Dental Fraternity and of the United States Medical Reserve. In the 1916 yearbook, there was a joke page that started with “What would you think if—“ and one of the punch lines was “Silk would be summoned to the office.” He was chosen to write the QT Dental Society address in the 1917 yearbook. This was an honor, as 1917 was the first year that the Society had students graduate and yet a graduate was not asked to write the address.
In 1918, the same year Charles graduated, President Herbert Gunn closed its medical and pharmacology schools. He cited “deplorable conditions” and the loss of its Class B rating by the American Medical Association. Gunn tried to get Stanford and UC Berkeley to accept the students who would otherwise be subject to the WWI draft, but those schools politely refused. The school continued, concentrating solely on dentistry. The school still exists, though it became part of the University of the Pacific in 1962 and was renamed the Dugoni School of Dentistry in 2004.
According to his WWI draft card, Charles was slender and of medium height, with grey eyes and light hair. The 1942 WWII draft card states that he was 5’7”, 170 lb, with grey eyes, brown hair, and a ruddy complexion. Unlike his brother Vince, Charles never served in the military.
In 1920, Charles first appeared in the Langley’s Directory. He was still living with his parents at 3965 – 25th Street and his occupation was listed as dentist. His office was at 4096 – 18th Street, on the corner of 18th and Castro. Somewhere around this time, Charles met Florence Rodriguez at a dance.
Florence E. Rodriguez was a third-generation San Franciscan, born on May 11, 1898. She was the only child of Alexander Rodriguez, a San Francisco jeweler whose father had been born in Spain and mother in San Francisco, and Josephine Bonacina, whose father had been born in Canada and whose mother was a Rocca from Italy. Joanne remembered that Florence had an elegant way of speaking and a commanding presence.
Florence (never Flo or Flossy) grew up in Oakland and was a well-loved elementary schoolteacher. Her daughter Candace remembered her as a “teacher at heart” who was very patient. Candace had a lisp when she was young and Florence would sit with her and help her rehearse certain words with her teeth clenched. In time, she stopped lisping. Years later, after she married and gave up her career, she was walking down the street and heard someone call out, “Miss Rodriguez!” It was a former student who was working on a construction site. He introduced her to another worker as the “woman who taught me everything I needed to know.” She was always very proud of that. She was sad to have to give up teaching when they married, but she did not earn enough money to make it worthwhile when the change in tax bracket was considered. Polk’s City Directory listed her as a public school teacher in 1943, but that was the only year. It is possible she took the job as part of the War Effort.
Charles and Florence were in the newspapers as having attended several of the same social events in 1920 and 1921, including a dance hosted by the sister of Florence’s maid-of-honor. This may very well have been the dance at which they met. This may very well have been the dance at which they met. He gave her his pin, but she returned it for some reason. Candace remembered seeing a tearful letter from him acknowledging the return. They did eventually reconcile and were married at St. Anthony’s Church in Oakland on August 20, 1921. Fr. Anthony Heneghan performed the ceremony, and the witnesses were John Moretto and Eda Chichizola. (John and Eda would marry each other later in 1921, but they divorced in 1934.) The Silks had a long and very happy marriage. According to his nephew’s wife Joanne Calvert, Charles doted on her and would buy her anything she wanted.
Florence (never Flo or Flossy) grew up in Oakland and was a well-loved elementary schoolteacher. Her daughter Candace remembered her as a “teacher at heart” who was very patient. Candace had a lisp when she was young and Florence would sit with her and help her rehearse certain words with her teeth clenched. In time, she stopped lisping. Years later, after she married and gave up her career, she was walking down the street and heard someone call out, “Miss Rodriguez!” It was a former student who was working on a construction site. He introduced her to another worker as the “woman who taught me everything I needed to know.” She was always very proud of that. She was sad to have to give up teaching when they married, but she did not earn enough money to make it worthwhile when the change in tax bracket was considered. Polk’s City Directory listed her as a public school teacher in 1943, but that was the only year. It is possible she took the job as part of the War Effort.
Charles and Florence were in the newspapers as having attended several of the same social events in 1920 and 1921, including a dance hosted by the sister of Florence’s maid-of-honor. This may very well have been the dance at which they met. This may very well have been the dance at which they met. He gave her his pin, but she returned it for some reason. Candace remembered seeing a tearful letter from him acknowledging the return. They did eventually reconcile and were married at St. Anthony’s Church in Oakland on August 20, 1921. Fr. Anthony Heneghan performed the ceremony, and the witnesses were John Moretto and Eda Chichizola. (John and Eda would marry each other later in 1921, but they divorced in 1934.) The Silks had a long and very happy marriage. According to his nephew’s wife Joanne Calvert, Charles doted on her and would buy her anything she wanted.
The new Silks took up residence at 61 Divisadero Street, between Duboce and 14th Street. This neighborhood was known as Eureka Valley (before it was known as the Castro District) and was in Most Holy Redeemer Parish. Eureka Valley had been known as Little Scandinavia in the 1860s, because of the large number of residents of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish ancestry. The cove on Castro and Market used to be called The Norse Cove. The bathhouses in the area (which later became infamous as gay hook-up sites) started as Finnish clubs. By the 1930s, the area had become a very Irish Catholic, working-class neighborhood, as the Mission and Potrero Hill had been. Everyone knew everyone. The children all went to Holy Redeemer School, the parents all worked together, and the families all went to Church on Sunday and to the Spring and Fall Parish Picnics. In the KQED documentary The Castro, former residents proudly claimed that they had the most bars of any neighborhood in the City—nine in two blocks. Charles’ son Rodney was interviewed for the documentary and noted that The Castro Theatre was the “babysitter for the neighborhood” and everyone would go to the candy shop to load up on penny-candy and sit for hours in the theatre on Saturday, watching two features and a serial.
The Silks would live in the parish for the rest of their lives. They were living in their first place on Divisadero when their only son, Charles Rodney, was born in 1923. Six years later, they were renting 218 Castro Street, near 15th - Street. Charles had also moved his office to a more prominent spot, at 438a Castro, directly across the street from the Castro Theatre.
Charles was a pillar of the business community in the Castro for the next 50 years and he was very conscious of his place in the neighborhood. He always wore a suit and tie when he left the house, even if he was going on a picnic. It was “the right way for him to behave.” He was a member of the Eureka Valley Merchants’ Association and was likely its president for a time. Several cousins remember the large billboard on Market Street indicating his dentistry business and some of their parents would only go to Charles, despite having to trek across town just to go to him.
The Silks would live in the parish for the rest of their lives. They were living in their first place on Divisadero when their only son, Charles Rodney, was born in 1923. Six years later, they were renting 218 Castro Street, near 15th - Street. Charles had also moved his office to a more prominent spot, at 438a Castro, directly across the street from the Castro Theatre.
Charles was a pillar of the business community in the Castro for the next 50 years and he was very conscious of his place in the neighborhood. He always wore a suit and tie when he left the house, even if he was going on a picnic. It was “the right way for him to behave.” He was a member of the Eureka Valley Merchants’ Association and was likely its president for a time. Several cousins remember the large billboard on Market Street indicating his dentistry business and some of their parents would only go to Charles, despite having to trek across town just to go to him.
By 1939, Charles and Florence had bought a lot at 49 Divisadero Street, only a few doors away from where they had lived when they first married, and built a new house. They would live there for the rest of lives. Joanne Calvert remembered it as a “grand house” with an extremely formal dining room. That suited Charles personality. Vincent and Maxine were rarely in town and there were only two children in the next generation, so holiday dinners were small, staid affairs. In 1940, the house was worth $7500, very expensive for the time. In 2013, the four-bedroom, four-bath sold for $2.7 million.
Florence was a devoted mother. She was very protective of Rodney as he was her only child and had health issues from an early age due to asthma. Charles’ sister Muriel had a son who was asthmatic as well and she and Florence bonded over the experience. They were very close, like sisters. Muriel remembered Florence as warm and protective.
As the wife of a prominent businessman, she was involved in the City community. She had been in the Society pages of the newspaper in the 1920s and 1930s as an attendee at weddings, showers, dances, and teas. Florence was a member of the Vittoria Colonna Club. The Vittoria Colonna was founded by obstetrician Mariana Bertola in 1909 as a social club for women of Italian birth or descent, regardless of religious faith or political affiliations. Interestingly, among the original five members were a dentist and two public school teachers. Its name, Vittoria Colonna, came from a 16th Century Roman poetess who inspired the type of social work they intended to perform in the community. The Club was always somewhat small, though it reached a peak of about 300 members after World War II, and it still existed in 2010.
The Club members were mostly Piedmontese and of other Northern Italian descent. Florence had the dark complexion of her Mediterranean heritage and sometimes she felt looked down upon. Italy had only been unified since 1866 (under the Kingdom of Piedmont), and regional biases still ran strong. But she was a warm person who could look past it, though it hurt. It is unknown when Florence joined, but, in 1959, she reached her high point, serving as the co-chairman of the club’s committee to host a tea for Mrs. Alessandro Savorgnan, the wife of the Italian Consul General. It was held at the Palace Hotel and was quite the social success.
Rodney remembered that his mother’s parents moved in with them in the early ‘50s and that the situation was a little tense. In part, that was because Josephine and Alex were in failing health and had to give up their home of many years in Oakland. Alex died in April of 1953 and Josephine died eleven months later.
By 1958, Rodney had moved in with his parents. He remarried at the end of the year and his new wife Helen had a son from a previous marriage. Charles and Florence became instant grandparents of a two-year-old. Rodney told his cousin that he felt the situation was somewhat stifling and, when they discovered that Helen was pregnant again, the younger Silks moved out. Candace remembered that her grandparents absolutely loved all their grandchildren. Florence was extremely loyal to her family and would go to no end to support and love them. Charles was the same but, as a man of his generation, in a more subtle.
Charles continued to move up with in his profession. He was a lifetime member of the American Dental Association. In 1950, he served as president of the San Francisco Dental Society and the next year was on the Finance Secretary. In 1959, he was the vice president of the California Dental Association (CDA), and, in 1961, he was elected president. His position in the CDA got him invited to attend seminars in Cologne and Paris and he took Florence with him. The new airplane at the time was the Boeing 707. Florence was a little leery of the new planes and jokingly told Charles she would only go with him if he told the pilot not to fly too fast or too far off the ground.
Charles was always involved in the alumni association of his alma mater. Florence was also involved in the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Charles was on the finance committee and, year after year, was asked to organize the annual alumni lunch and cocktail party. Charles had served as president in the 1940s and, in 1951, Florence was elected President of the Ladies’ Auxiliary. In 1968, he received his Golden Diploma.
Within the San Francisco community, he was a member of the Commonwealth Club and the Olympic Club, exclusive upper class clubs which, a generation before, had banned the Irish as members. He was not particularly athletic and was not interested in golf, swimming, or tennis, but prominent businessmen were supposed to be members of the Olympic Club, so he joined.
After WWII, Eureka Valley slowly began to change, as increasing numbers of families moving out to the suburbs. As the downtown area developed, many neighborhoods suffered, including Eureka Valley. Several Most Holy Redeemer Parish shops shut down, and houses were abandoned and shuttered. In 1963, real estate prices plummeted when most of the working-class families tried to sell their houses quickly after a gay bar opened in the neighborhood. Hippies— attracted to ideals of the Haight Ashbury/St. Agnes Parish but repulsed by its crime rate—bought some of the cheap Victorian houses. Beginning in the 1960s, many affluent gays began to move from the small apartments of the Polk Gulch area, where they had settled after many were dishonorably discharged from the armed forces during the War, to the large inexpensive Victorians in Eureka Valley. The movement to the suburbs had begun before the influx of the new gay community. As usually happens in a family neighborhood, the children grow up and move out, and the parents downsize or retire. The sales prices soared as the neighborhood became gentrified and few families could resist the high offers.
The new members of the neighborhood would form a tightknit community over the next 20 years and the Castro would become a Mecca for gay men and women. By 1977, there were 20,000 openly gay people living in the neighborhood. Those who stayed—like the Silks—struggled with the changes. Charles was a politically and socially conservative man and he had difficulty with all the new approaches of life. As Rod said in the KQED documentary,
My poor father could not understand what was happening. ‘I don’t know what’s going on out there. God damned holding hands on the street, for Christ’s sake!’
The Eureka Valley Merchants’ Association had refused admission to gay business owners, so they founded the Castro Village Merchants Association, headed up by a camera shop owner named Harvey Milk. The neighborhood began to be known as The Castro, instead of Eureka Valley, and Harvey was known as the Mayor of the Castro. Two years after Charles’ death, Milk would win a seat as a City supervisor. A year later, he was assassinated.
Florence was a devoted mother. She was very protective of Rodney as he was her only child and had health issues from an early age due to asthma. Charles’ sister Muriel had a son who was asthmatic as well and she and Florence bonded over the experience. They were very close, like sisters. Muriel remembered Florence as warm and protective.
As the wife of a prominent businessman, she was involved in the City community. She had been in the Society pages of the newspaper in the 1920s and 1930s as an attendee at weddings, showers, dances, and teas. Florence was a member of the Vittoria Colonna Club. The Vittoria Colonna was founded by obstetrician Mariana Bertola in 1909 as a social club for women of Italian birth or descent, regardless of religious faith or political affiliations. Interestingly, among the original five members were a dentist and two public school teachers. Its name, Vittoria Colonna, came from a 16th Century Roman poetess who inspired the type of social work they intended to perform in the community. The Club was always somewhat small, though it reached a peak of about 300 members after World War II, and it still existed in 2010.
The Club members were mostly Piedmontese and of other Northern Italian descent. Florence had the dark complexion of her Mediterranean heritage and sometimes she felt looked down upon. Italy had only been unified since 1866 (under the Kingdom of Piedmont), and regional biases still ran strong. But she was a warm person who could look past it, though it hurt. It is unknown when Florence joined, but, in 1959, she reached her high point, serving as the co-chairman of the club’s committee to host a tea for Mrs. Alessandro Savorgnan, the wife of the Italian Consul General. It was held at the Palace Hotel and was quite the social success.
Rodney remembered that his mother’s parents moved in with them in the early ‘50s and that the situation was a little tense. In part, that was because Josephine and Alex were in failing health and had to give up their home of many years in Oakland. Alex died in April of 1953 and Josephine died eleven months later.
By 1958, Rodney had moved in with his parents. He remarried at the end of the year and his new wife Helen had a son from a previous marriage. Charles and Florence became instant grandparents of a two-year-old. Rodney told his cousin that he felt the situation was somewhat stifling and, when they discovered that Helen was pregnant again, the younger Silks moved out. Candace remembered that her grandparents absolutely loved all their grandchildren. Florence was extremely loyal to her family and would go to no end to support and love them. Charles was the same but, as a man of his generation, in a more subtle.
Charles continued to move up with in his profession. He was a lifetime member of the American Dental Association. In 1950, he served as president of the San Francisco Dental Society and the next year was on the Finance Secretary. In 1959, he was the vice president of the California Dental Association (CDA), and, in 1961, he was elected president. His position in the CDA got him invited to attend seminars in Cologne and Paris and he took Florence with him. The new airplane at the time was the Boeing 707. Florence was a little leery of the new planes and jokingly told Charles she would only go with him if he told the pilot not to fly too fast or too far off the ground.
Charles was always involved in the alumni association of his alma mater. Florence was also involved in the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Charles was on the finance committee and, year after year, was asked to organize the annual alumni lunch and cocktail party. Charles had served as president in the 1940s and, in 1951, Florence was elected President of the Ladies’ Auxiliary. In 1968, he received his Golden Diploma.
Within the San Francisco community, he was a member of the Commonwealth Club and the Olympic Club, exclusive upper class clubs which, a generation before, had banned the Irish as members. He was not particularly athletic and was not interested in golf, swimming, or tennis, but prominent businessmen were supposed to be members of the Olympic Club, so he joined.
After WWII, Eureka Valley slowly began to change, as increasing numbers of families moving out to the suburbs. As the downtown area developed, many neighborhoods suffered, including Eureka Valley. Several Most Holy Redeemer Parish shops shut down, and houses were abandoned and shuttered. In 1963, real estate prices plummeted when most of the working-class families tried to sell their houses quickly after a gay bar opened in the neighborhood. Hippies— attracted to ideals of the Haight Ashbury/St. Agnes Parish but repulsed by its crime rate—bought some of the cheap Victorian houses. Beginning in the 1960s, many affluent gays began to move from the small apartments of the Polk Gulch area, where they had settled after many were dishonorably discharged from the armed forces during the War, to the large inexpensive Victorians in Eureka Valley. The movement to the suburbs had begun before the influx of the new gay community. As usually happens in a family neighborhood, the children grow up and move out, and the parents downsize or retire. The sales prices soared as the neighborhood became gentrified and few families could resist the high offers.
The new members of the neighborhood would form a tightknit community over the next 20 years and the Castro would become a Mecca for gay men and women. By 1977, there were 20,000 openly gay people living in the neighborhood. Those who stayed—like the Silks—struggled with the changes. Charles was a politically and socially conservative man and he had difficulty with all the new approaches of life. As Rod said in the KQED documentary,
My poor father could not understand what was happening. ‘I don’t know what’s going on out there. God damned holding hands on the street, for Christ’s sake!’
The Eureka Valley Merchants’ Association had refused admission to gay business owners, so they founded the Castro Village Merchants Association, headed up by a camera shop owner named Harvey Milk. The neighborhood began to be known as The Castro, instead of Eureka Valley, and Harvey was known as the Mayor of the Castro. Two years after Charles’ death, Milk would win a seat as a City supervisor. A year later, he was assassinated.
In 1975, Charles developed pancreatic cancer. He was under the care of Dr. Jack Gordon when he died on November 12, 1975, at Mt Zion Hospital. He was 79 years old. After private services at Most Holy Redeemer Church, he was entombed near his parents in the Holy Cross Mausoleum.
Florence continued to live in the family home for the next nine years. In 1977, after his divorce, Rodney moved back home and took care of her. Her health began to fail her as she developed diabetes and arteriosclerosis. Candice remembers that she died at home after a brief illness. According to her death certificate, on July 20, 1984, she was admitted to the Franklin Hospital emergency room and she died at Ralph K Davies Med Center from a coronary. She was 86 years old. After a Mass of Christian Burial at Most Holy Redeemer Church, she was entombed with the love of her life in Holy Cross Mausoleum.
The life Charles led was, in style, a bookend to the live that of his brother, and each was successful in a different way. Charles was the responsible eldest son of a successful young immigrant. He made sure that the American cycle of “rags-to-riches-back-to-rags” did not happen. Rather, he built on his father’s success by hard work, education, and character. As well as business success, he clearly had success in his personal life with a loving marriage that lasted over 50 years and four grandchildren of whom he was proud. Despite his strong sense of his position in society, at home he was warm and loving. He granddaughter Candace remembered him as a great storyteller and a grandfather who sang and danced and had fun with his grandchildren. She added that, he bottom line was, Charles and Florence were a very strong influence on their lives. These Silks built a life to be envied and a foundation for which their descendants could rightfully be proud and thankful.
The life Charles led was, in style, a bookend to the live that of his brother, and each was successful in a different way. Charles was the responsible eldest son of a successful young immigrant. He made sure that the American cycle of “rags-to-riches-back-to-rags” did not happen. Rather, he built on his father’s success by hard work, education, and character. As well as business success, he clearly had success in his personal life with a loving marriage that lasted over 50 years and four grandchildren of whom he was proud. Despite his strong sense of his position in society, at home he was warm and loving. He granddaughter Candace remembered him as a great storyteller and a grandfather who sang and danced and had fun with his grandchildren. She added that, he bottom line was, Charles and Florence were a very strong influence on their lives. These Silks built a life to be envied and a foundation for which their descendants could rightfully be proud and thankful.