[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 52 (Thursday, March 29, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING ANTHONY SILVEIRA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2012

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mann County dairy 
rancher Anthony (Tony) Silveira who passed away March 9, 2012, at the 
age of 90. Mr. Silveira spent most of his life working on the family 
ranches and was known for his proud defense of the family's property 
rights as the County became increasingly urbanized.
  Mr. Silveira's father, like many of Mann County's early dairy 
ranchers, emigrated from the Azores. He founded the ranching business 
in 1900, and in 1920 helped found Mann-Dell Dairy (sold in 1954).
  Born in 1921 on the Miller Ranch (now Marinwood), Tony Silveira was 
committed to the family business; after his father died when he was 
only 15, he and his siblings helped his mother Mary run two ranches. 
With Marinwood ranch and the Burdell Ranch north of Novato along 
Highway 101, drivers could enjoy the sight of some of the family's 1500 
cows grazing on prime Mann County grasslands.
  After graduating from local schools, Mr. Silveira attended UC Davis 
before returning to Mann ranching. The ``Home'' ranch in Marinwood, 
where his father had acquired land around St. Vincent's School for 
Boys, is centrally located and soon became the focus for possible 
housing growth. Others argued that the land should be preserved as 
buffer zone, with minimum development. Mr. Silveira fought passionately 
for the right not to have the property down-zoned, speaking out often 
at meetings and in press.
  Mr. Silveira was involved in agricultural organizations such as the 
Mann County Farm Bureau and the Western United Dairymen as well as the 
University of California Alumni Association, Native Sons of the Golden 
West, and the IDESST Portuguese Hall in Sausalito.
  He is survived by Lorraine, his wife of 65 years; daughter, Renee; 
siblings George and Jean; and three grandchildren. His son, Ronald 
Anthony Silveira, predeceased him in 2000.
  Mr. Speaker, Anthony Silveira's proud ranching background is an 
important part of the fabric of Mann County history and his battles for 
property rights reflect the pressures and conflicts that are an ongoing 
dialogue of life in the County. I am honored to salute his long life 
and career.

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