In memory of Silvio Zenone

Silvio trained as a Civil Engineer in the University of Rome in Italy, his birthplace, and worked with his father on roads and bridges damaged by the war.

After coming to The States, he focused on his true interest, Physics, and received his Doctorate in Physics from Syracuse University in 1969. He taught at Syracuse University and Occidental College in Los Angeles and was Research Assistant in High Energy Physics at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island.

When U.S. financial aid at Brookhaven was restricted, he cheerfully drove a late-shift taxi in New York City and drove his wife frantic by walking home through Central Park late at night “to get some air”.

Settling  finally in Montreal, in his 36 years at Dawson, Silvio taught just about every course offered by the Physics Department. Among his greatest pleasures was his interaction with his two sons, Genesio and Michael whose development he followed with pride and love.

In retirement, Silvio continued his studies, especially enjoying poetry. At the age of 90, he published his first poem, “Narciso” (Narcissus). He also helped his wife learn Italian by discussing her Concordia courses.

One of his favourite passages was from a speech by Ulysses in Dante’s Inferno. Ulysses is trying to encourage his terrified men to push out further than the known seas: “Considerate la vostra semenza, fatti non foste a viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute  e canoscenza.” (Consider your origins. You were not born to live like brutes, but to follow goodness and  knowledge.) This in a sentence is what Silvio lived and it was his strongest wish for his students and his most cherished  legacy to his family.

Always extolling kindness and knowledge and doubt, to the question “Is their life before death?” Silvio’s life was an emphatic answer in the affirmative.