Antonio Silva

Antonio (Tony) R.M. Silva, M.D. - Sept. 11, 2021. Dr. Silva was born in Belem, Brazil on December 19, 1926 and resided in Corona from 1966 until his death. Dr. Silva graduated from Medical School in Brazil in 1953 and then did his surgical residency at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro. He came to the United States in 1956, where he continued his training at hospitals affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and then at UCLA, where he was a Fellow in General Surgery and Oncology. He and his wife Ilma married in 1960 and had two children, Roy and Virginia. Dr. Silva opened his private practice in Corona in 1966 and was the towns only oncologist for many years. Drawing on his extensive training at UCLA, Dr. Silva introduced the use of chemotherapy in local hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. Dr. Silva was a member of many local, national and international surgical societies, including the American College of Surgeons, which appointed him as a surveyor responsible for reviewing cancer programs in medical schools throughout California during a 16-year period. In 1988 he was elected President of the Riverside County Medical Association. He also served in many distinguished positions in both Circle City Hospital (now closed) and Corona Regional Medical Center. After retiring from private practice, Dr. Silva remained active in the medical field as an Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at UCI (the license plate on his car was “UCI MD”). Dr. Silva was very dedicated to his work, his family, and his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is survived by his wife, Ilma, his son, Roy (San Clemente) and his daughter Virginia Nisson (Henderson, NV) and by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.