It wasn’t long after the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which recognized a constitutional right to abortion, that Delores “Dee” Silverman had “an awakening,” according to Sandy Korzick, a longtime neighbor and friend.
“She realized they were killing babies and had to do something about it,’” said Korzick, a pro-life advocate and fellow parishioner of St. Joseph in Cockeysville. “She was all about doing everything she could to protect the unborn.”
Silverman, co-founder of Pregnancy Center North (PCN) in Towson, died July 5 in Nevada. She was 85.
Silverman started PCN in 1982 in a space above a mechanic’s garage, offering pregnancy tests, counseling and material assistance, according to Amy Fuchsluger, the organization’s director of development. Since then, the nonprofit has served more than 30,000 people, according to its website, by providing medical services, pregnancy and parenting education, referrals to community resources and access to a national after-hours hotline.
“Dee has truly left a legacy of life,” Fuchsluger said in an email. “Through her bravery and dedication to the sanctity of human life, a way forward was opened for generations of babies to be saved and women and families healed – an impact that will continue to reverberate through our community for generations to come. “
A Baltimore native, Silverman was raised Methodist. She converted to Catholicism when she married Joseph Silverton Nov. 21, 1959, at St. Anthony of Padua in Baltimore. The two were long-time parishioners of St. Joseph in Cockeysville.
“I had a full Catholic background, (but) she turned out to be a better Catholic than I was,” Joseph Silverman said. “She was so much a woman of faith. I was so astounded at what she did. She did whatever was necessary for a woman in crisis.”
Even with two young children at home, Silverman would invite women with nowhere to go to stay at their Cockeysville home, Joseph Silverman said, and she would accompany them through their pregnancies and in the delivery room. Whether the mother kept the baby or gave it up for adoption, Silverman was there to help find the resources and people needed to help.
“She was just so good at saving the babies,” Joseph Silverman said. “She’s my hero.”
Her partner was Marilyn Szewczyk, founder of Pregnancy Center Inc. in Catonsville, who inspired Silverman to open Pregnancy Center North. Together, the two did all they could for women in crisis, including having a plane fly over Ocean City’s beaches with a banner promoting life, he said.
“She and Marilyn were like Starsky and Hutch,” said Joseph Silverman, who had been married to Dee for 66 years. “She was committed.”
In a recorded speech prepared for her acceptance of PCN’s Pro-life Award at the organization’s 40th anniversary banquet in 2022, Silverman recalled Monsignor James P. Farmer’s blessing at the center’s opening. He prayed for the thousands of women he said would come through its doors. At the time, she remembered thinking, “Oh my God.” Looking back, she added, “We had no idea how wise he was at the time.”
Silverman also reflected on moments when the work felt difficult. She said the “Lord gives you just a little glimpse of what you have done,” recalling a woman who initially planned to have an abortion but returned months later with her newborn.
“We all need encouragement. We all need to see that our prayers and our work is working,” Silverman said. “She was my glimpse. She kept me going for a very, very long time.”
Korzick remembers hauling “bags and bags of stuff” with Silverman up a flight of stairs to PCN’s office on a “hot and sweltering day,” adding that neither woman was in their younger years at the time.
“I told her, ‘This is brutal,’” Korzick said. “She said, ‘I know. I do it every day.’ She did what she set out to do. I always held her in the highest esteem. I know all those babies that she suffered a lot for and weren’t able to get born…heaven was resonating with cheers waiting for her. She was a real champion.”
Pregnancy Center North is having a Mass offered for Silverman at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, 200 Ware Ave, Towson, Jan. 17, 2027, at 8 a.m.
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org
Also see:
Pregnancy center director’s vision offers hope over fear
Pregnancy Center North marks four decades of helping women
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