J. Michael Silsby

10/19/2001

J. Michael Silsby, 51, of 16 Belmar Drive died Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he had been admitted Oct. 6. Death followed a brief illness. Mr. Silsby was known for his expertise in stress debriefing and served on several statewide committees for stress debriefing of firefighters, police and other public emergency personnel. He was board-certified by the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. Born in North Adams on March 1, 1950, son of James Ernest Silsby Jr. and Marion Anna DiSanti Silsby, he was a 1968 graduate of Drury High School. He also graduated from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in 1976 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. He completed his master of arts degree in clinical psychology at Antioch University in Keene, N.H., in 1983. A mental health and substance abuse crisis emergency services expert in Massachusetts, he began his career in 1979 with the state Department of Mental Health as a social worker and case manager in Northampton. From 1980 to 1983, he served as executive director of South Forty Alternatives of Williamstown. In 1983, he joined Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of the Berkshires in Pittsfield, in partnership with Berkshire Medical Center, as director of psychiatric crisis emergency services. He also acted as ongoing consultant to the chairman of the department of psychiatry regarding risk assessment and management, and managed the annual budget for division. In 1997, this program was selected by Statewide Public MCO as best in the state and utilized as a model. During his tenure, he increased mobile outreach assessments, and the client volume increased from 150 to 600 face-to-face contacts. In May 2000, he resigned to join North Adams Regional Hospital as program director of Greylock Behavioral Health Services. He was a visiting instructor at MCLA and was a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He was also a consultant for program development for Boston's BEST program and served as a trainer for critical incident stress management. He was a licensed mental health counselor and marriage and family therapist in Massachusetts. He served as an in-patient therapist at Franklin County Medical Center in Greenfield, and was a former out-patient therapist with Northern Berkshire Mental Health Center. He was a communicant of St. Francis' Church. A longtime skier, he was a member of the ski patrol for Bousquet Ski Area in Pittsfield, the National Ski Patrol and the NARH Hot Shot ski team at Mount Snow in West Dover, Vt., and was founder of the after-school ski program at Clarksburg Elementary School. He also enjoyed sailing, deep-water scuba diving and traveling. He leaves his wife, the former Sheila M. Marlowe, whom he married May 31, 1974, at Thompson Memorial Chapel in Williamstown; two sons, Joshua Joseph Silsby of Clemson, S.C., and Aaron Benjamin Silsby at home; and a sister, Sharon Jean Marceau of North Adams. The funeral will be Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 10 at FLYNN & DAGNOLI-MONTAGNA HOME FOR FUNERALS, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, followed by a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 11 at St. Francis of Assisi Church. Burial will be at a later date. Calling hours at the funeral home will be Tuesday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 8. A Memorial Celebration of Life will take place at the funeral home at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested for the J. Michael Silsby Scholarship Fund for Behavioral Science through the funeral home.

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