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* Jordan Elder at WICS filed a very moving story about Saturday’s funeral for slain DCFS worker Deidre Silas. Here’s an excerpt but you should go watch it…
[Silas’ father] Roy Graham tells us he requested the casket be propped open, a white mesh sheet over his daughter’s body, so that people could see what happened to his little girl.
No parent wants to plan or attend a funeral for their child, and the Grahams say Saturday’s service filled them with both sorrow and gratitude.
“It shows she was really loved, and the impact she had on these people, and kids in general too,” Roy Graham told us after the service.
Deidre was described as the heartbeat of every room she was in, fearless, giving, and kind.
She was known as Nadia to her family members and “Momma D” to the children she helped in St. Charles when she worked in juvenile justice.
Loved ones told stories about her bright smile, her passion to further her education, and her phone calls intended to last five minutes that usually lasted about an hour.
Her dedication to Illinois children always at the forefront.
“Deidre dedicated her young life, her too short life, to saving the lives of children,” said Roberta Lynch, the executive director of AFSCME Council 31. “We will go forward in that mission, each of us in our own way.”
Dozens of DCFS workers came to support Silas and her family.
Department director Marc Smith was also in attendance.
* AP…
Flags at Illinois state office buildings were lowered for three days to honor a child welfare worker who was stabbed to death this month.
Gov. JB Pritzker ordered that U.S. and Illinois flags be set at half-staff beginning at sunrise Thursday in honor of Deidre Silas, a child protection specialist for the Department of Children and Family Services. Flags were to be returned to their traditional spot at sunset Saturday.
Silas, 36, was responding to a call about possibly endangered children at a home in Thayer, south of Springfield, on Jan. 5.
She was met at the door by an assailant who stabbed her and fled, according to authorities.
* Her family has set up a GoFundMe page…
The purpose for this fund is for her children. Her husband André Silas will no longer be able to come home and smell the Jamaican food cooking in the air, their daughter Amelia who is just 2 years old will no longer hear her mom sing to her, play with her, or struggle to tidy her room up with Amelia coming in behind her pulling down her toys just so mom can pick them up again.
Her son Ashton who is 5 years old and still not talking as he is autistic will not be able to come to his mom to comfort him after watching his favorite show that also makes him cry, he won’t be able to bring his bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for constant refills.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 9:06 am
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Done (exclamation point) Thanks for bringing the GoFundMe to my attention.
Comment by Jocko Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 9:29 am
She paid the ultimate price for protecting children.
Every single member of the General Assembly should have been at her funeral. Instead they will complain about DCFS and grandstand at Subject Matter Hearings.
Comment by Give Me A Break Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 10:28 am
Unbelievably tragic. Rest In Peace, Deidre, you left the world a better place.
Comment by Excitable Boy Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 11:37 am
Done. There is no nobler sacrifice than to give one’s life while protecting others, especially children.
Comment by Proud Sucker Monday, Jan 24, 22 @ 3:03 pm