Jane Jaffe Giddan
July 3, 1940–Aug. 30, 2026

Jane passed away at 86 in her sleep at her home in Carrollton, Texas. She was born and raised in New York City. She was married to the late Dr. Norman S. Giddan for 60 years.

Jane was devoted to her children, Roger and Gabrielle, and grandchildren, Ian, Jessica and Rachel. She leaves her sister, Stephanie Jaffe Berman.

After graduating from Cornell and Stanford, Jane had a distinguished career as a speech pathologist and audiologist. She wrote numerous articles, researched treatments for autism and was involved as a consultant at Bittersweet Farms.

Jane avidly cultivated new and long-lasting friendships. She was generous, loving and positive. Jane loved life and its endless possibilities. She will be dearly missed.

Jane will be laid to rest beside her husband, Norman, in a graveside service at B’nai Amoona Cemetery in St. Louis.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 4, at Congregation Kol Ami in Flower Mound, with Rabbi Marisa Pappel officiating. An oneg will follow.

The family requests donations in Jane’s memory to Autism Speaks, Bittersweet Farms of Ohio or the charity of one’s choice.

Lawrence R. Silver
March 2, 1943–Aug. 20, 2026

Lawrence Robert Silver, known as Larry, passed away Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, after a long and courageous fight against Parkinson’s disease and related complications.

Born to Jerome and Edith Silver in St. Paul, Minn., on March 2, 1943, Larry and his family relocated several times during his childhood, including moves to Grand Prairie, Dallas and Denver.

Larry graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s degree in business and was a member of Zeta Beta Tau. He continued his education, graduating with a juris doctor from Southern Methodist University. In both college and law school, he worked multiple jobs to pay his tuition.

After law school, he settled in Houston, first working at Arthur Andersen and later as a tax manager at some of Houston’s largest oil companies. He started a solo accounting practice and eventually became a full-time CPA and tax lawyer. It was also in Houston where he met his beloved wife, Gail, who was his partner and companion for 54 years.

Larry was a talented athlete who won many awards, starting with Athlete of the Year for his Dallas AZA chapter. Later, he completed marathons and triathlons and won awards in track and field. He played softball competitively for decades, often with much younger players. He was also a referee for high school football and basketball. He coached the baseball, softball and basketball teams on which his children played.

Larry didn’t believe in giving anything less than 100%. When his kids played Little League baseball, he purchased an identical pitching machine for home use. He was also creative. When one of the teams couldn’t find a place to practice, Larry persuaded a local church to let the team use the church field.

To his wife Gail’s dismay, Larry even let their children use the house to practice their skills. The living room doubled as a baseball diamond, with the brick fireplace as second base. In the backyard, Larry built a tennis wall and a basketball goal by hand. Gail learned to accept that sports equipment, including a regulation javelin Larry used for track and field, might sometimes be stored in the living room.

But Larry’s self-taught skills were not limited to sports. He built a treehouse with working windows and stairs and a firepole; as he was a huge Houston Oilers fan, the house was painted Columbia blue with giant letters reading “Luv Ya Blue” that could be seen throughout the neighborhood.

For his CPA practice, he constructed a home office with a handmade credenza. And when the house needed repairs, he did them himself, whether electrical or plumbing or installing new carpet, hardwood floors or appliances.

He also did many projects for his children, including table centerpieces for their b’nai mitzvot and pre-internet video montages that he hand-spliced and synchronized to music. He was also a talented gardener, with the most productive vegetable garden in the neighborhood.

To say Larry loved dogs would be an understatement. The household always had a big dog, starting with collies — named after Mount Shasta in California — and later German shepherds. Usually one dog was not enough, and the family had two. Larry had a soft spot for dogs no one else would adopt. During a trip home from a wedding in Dallas, he convinced Gail the family needed a giant white dog the shelter suspected was part wolf.

Larry loved meeting people. He prided himself on learning how to greet people in various foreign languages. He loved eating at restaurants with friends; his question to Gail was, “When are we going and who are we going with?” He also loved to sing, especially later in life when he discovered karaoke. He had a fondness for Sinatra but had a large repertoire. His impromptu serenades often were the highlight of the evening.

Larry was generous. He adored his three grandchildren and delighted in giving gifts to them. He also bought gifts for many other children of family and friends. When a client couldn’t afford the normal charge for a tax return, he charged them less, but always charged some amount, even if nominal, so they didn’t feel they were receiving charity.

Larry’s interest in Judaism deepened as he aged. He and Gail traveled twice to Israel. Both of them enjoyed attending Friday Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Yeshurun.

But nothing was more important to Larry than his family. When the kids were growing up, there was no shortage of family tennis doubles or long road trips throughout the U.S. Larry doted on his grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Larry and Gail had a wonderful marriage of almost 55 years, supporting each other and the activities they enjoyed. Larry and Gail were honored to have their golden wedding anniversary recognized at CBY.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Jerome and Edith; his sister, Madeline; his sister-in-law, Lisa Neuman; and his daughter-in-law, Lizi Silver. He is survived by his wife, Gail; children, Stephen, Jill and Greg (Laura); brother, Tony (Sandy), and sister, Barbara; grandchildren, Shira, Max and Leo; nieces and nephews, Marjo Miller (Cameron), Jeff Neuman (Kim), Lindsay Cobert (Mike) and Stephane Daigle; and grandnieces and grandnephews, Brendan, Morgan, Hadley, Miller, Addison, Cooper, Bennett, Brett, Lexi, Zoe and Hayden.

The family wishes to express their gratitude to Angie North, Shelia and Jonice for the loving care and comfort they provided to Larry during his later years.

A funeral service was held Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, in the chapel at Beth Yeshurun Post Oak Cemetery.

The family suggests contributions to the Houston SPCA, houstonspca.org; Congregation Beth Yeshurun, bethyeshurun.org/payment.php; or a charity of your choice