Kevin Silvis - September 21, 1976-January 18, 2010

[highside]

Kevin Silvis died tragically on Monday, January 18, 2010, as a result of a motorcycle accident. A memorial page has been set up on Facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/kevinsilvis?ref=mf.

I did not have the pleasure of knowing Kevin. If you knew Kevin and would like to contribute to this thread or to his memorial forum, please do.

[highside]

From Kevin's Memorial Page on facebook:


KEVIN SCOTT SILVIS, was born in Fairfax County, Virginia to Zora Mae & Harry Silvis on September 21, 1976 and was their only birth child. He was also the last male heir in his family that dates back to 1774, when three young German brothers were sold to the British as Hessian soldiers to fight the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Kevin was several weeks late in his birth and had to be induced to come out. He met all of his early goals as a baby and toddler. He fired several baby sitters, as he did not want his mother to leave him. During his life he shared his parents, home and resources with 100’s of foster children and eventually permanently with Leslie, Gene, Amy & David. He played soccer as a child and later baseball, where he hit .869 one year and never struck out. He enjoyed most playing catcher but also played third base on occasion.

The family relocated to Atlanta in 1989, when Harry, Kevin’s father came to open a new location for Merrill Corporation (A financial printer). Kevin had already begun his career in computers as he had one since he was 5. While attending JJ Danniel Middle School, Kevin joined the band program and played the tuba through his graduation from Sprayberry High School. He most enjoyed playing in TUBA CHRISTMAS at CNN each Christmas. This senior year, he was in the top three tuba players in the state in competition. Kevin marched in the Rose Bowl Parade one year.

In grade school and middle school, he was the consultant to the librarians, who at that time were in charge of the few MAC computers. They would get him out of class when they had serious problems, which he would quickly fix. He went to North Cobb HS one year. There, he set up the CAD program that Chattahoochee Tech had given to the school. The next year, all of the children attended Sprayberry HS under the rule that allowed them to do it as his sister, Leslie had to go there because of her disability. When he took keyboarding as a sophomore, the teacher realized he was far more advanced that the class and put him in the corner to do special projects for the school. Somewhere along the line she showed him her password to log on to the servers at the board of education to input grades. Many years later he confessed this and that he changed some of his friends grades. When asked, he said his teachers never put his grades on soon enough for him to improve them.

While still in high school, Kevin worked at the pet store in Towne Center Mall. There, he became interested in ferrets. His first was Butt-Head as you can fold them in half, and see the butt & head. This turned the family on to these wonderful, playful weasels. He later purchased Ling-Ling, a panda and then and finally Edward, that a mother returned after discovering him in a small cage in her son’s room. Eddie had never been out of the cage, and suffered from cage paralysis. The family became a rescue and Kevin gave up his bedroom for them to live in. At one time, there were as many as 14 ferrets in the household. He was very active on the Ferret Mailing List and active in ferret causes. This has been very good for his Developmentally Delayed sister, Leslie, who still has two ferrets, Anna & Bella, both rescues.

Kevin’s jobs, interests and talents were varied. He worked at two frame shops and set up the computer mat cutting at one. He built a half pipe ramp in a double garage where he and his friends skated. He replaced or installed car stereos. For a while he played pool and made pocket money hustling. Twice, he attempted to work in an auto repair shop but in both cases they would not assist him in getting the training he wanted to be a certified mechanic. When at Ed Voyles Chrysler, Kevin drove a loaded Dodge Ram all day, every day over central and south Georgia delivering body parts. Finally, he got a job as a computer repairman and eventually went to work for Impulse Marketing where he worked until his tragic untimely death. He also had several side jobs in the computer area.

Earlier he had a Chevrolet Barretta and latter a Honda Prelude. As was his case, he became very active in modifying the cars and doing shows and rally’s with the club he belonged too.

He really enjoyed playing War Craft and other on-line games. At one point he worked with others to set-up all night computer gaming at US PLAY that was one of the few places to have a T-1 at the time. Later, he did the same at his parent’s home in the basement when they installed an early DSL line.

In that he had to at times in the middle of the nite to repair equipment located in the Georgia Tech area backbone of the internet, Kevin became interested in guns. He had a concealed gun permit and carried a 9MM on him at all times. He was very active in gun groups in Georgia. In his gun safe he had an AR-15 with all the goodies, two M-1’s, one from WW II era and the other from the Korean era. Also, a hunting rifle, a .22 rifle and his father’s and grandfather’s 20 gague shotguns and lastly, two additional .45 pistols. There was also thousands of rounds of amno. HE WAS not pro gun control. He also, frequently visited the gun range and late last year he and his father spent a Saturday at an outdoor gun range.

For the last seven years he had Kappy and Ceaser, a border collie and a mutt he rescued, as well as moonshine a very shy cat. Earlier, he went through his fish period and had several large freshwater and later salt-water aquariums and on many occasions went to Miami to bring back fish for his fish friends. He was a member of a fish club that met with Berney Marcus, to plan the Georgia Aquarium. He would sometimes even drive to Miami to bring back fish for the reef club.

Kevin shared his father’s love for NASCAR as well as smoking low and slow BBQ meats. He had gone to several NASCAR races some as far as Bristol, Virginia. He enjoyed seasoning a pork butt and cooking it low and slow over a hickory fire, as well as beer can chicken. A Thanksgiving family ritual was to deep-fry a turkey. This past year the family had a fried, a smoked and a traditional cooked turkey, as well as a ham, so everyone was happy.

Kevin started riding a motorcycle a few years ago. In the beginning it was a cheap way to get to work at 400 & I-285 from Powder Springs. As time progressed, as usually the case, he immersed himself in the motorcycle way of life. He loved to ride the roads of Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee with his motorcycles friends. Lately, he has enjoyed running his cycle at Road Atlanta, Talladega, & Jennings tracks to name a few. He met every Tuesday nite with a large group of fellow sports motorcycle riders at Highland Grille in Kennesaw for dinner.

On Monday, January 18, 2010 Kevin was on his way home from work on his motorcycle and stopped at Micro Center, to purchase repair parts for his home computer. There he purchased a 320 GB hard drive and a 4 GB thumb drive and paid for them at 6:34 pm. He then rode up to Delk Road and made a left, and was riding down the left lane, when a 20 yo female pulled out in front of him. Even using all of his skills he had learned did not help, as there was not enough time for him to get around behind her and he hit her and was immediately killed. Charges were brought against the other driver. A wake was held for him by his motorcycle friends on January 19, 2010.

Kevin’s body was cremated and his ashes are to be spread along the Cherohala Skyway after a brief ceremony in Kennesaw. The Cherohala Skyway crosses through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee and the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. The name “Cherohala” comes from the names of the two National Forests: “Cher” from the Cherokee and “ahala” from the Nantahala. The Cherohala Skyway is in southeast Tennessee and southwest North Carolina. The Skyway connects Tellico Plains, Tennessee, with Robbinsville, North Carolina, and is about 50 miles long. The Cherohala Skyway is a wide, paved 2-laned road maintained by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The elevations range from 900 feet above sea level at the Tellico River in Tennessee to over 5400 feet above sea level at the Tennessee-North Carolina state line at Haw Knob and is a favorite route of motorcycle riders because of its climb and the views it provides.

RIP – SON, BROTHER & FRIEND

[TroyBoy30]

thank you Sir! I'll try to add some pics asap

[TroyBoy30]

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[TroyBoy30]

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[TroyBoy30]

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=kevin+silvis+mem+page&init=quick#!/kevinsilvis?ref=search&sid=683758803.2782458503..1

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/Basur

[Atl_Rider]

HOLY &HIT!!!

One of the last times I rode before my bike was stolen I was on east west connector when I rolled up to him on a light. We gave a quick exchange of thumbs ups and had a lightly spirited ride for a little. We established we were both on GSB and exchanged profile names.....he had just picked up that speed triple...... This is truely shocking as I was looking to reconnect with him since I've just rejoined the new GSB

I only knew him from that one exchange but he was a light hearted guy and someone I was interested in befriending. My condolences to all his loved ones.

[Quick-6]

That be Kevin.

[TroyBoy30]

:up:

[Huey130]

Today marks the second anniversary that our brother Kevin Silvis rode through pit-out for that never ending track day. In his honor we're meeting at Highland's Grill at 7:00. Anyone who knew him, would like to hear about him or support those close to him are welcome.