Deceased January 9, 2022
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In Memory
In January, we lost Hugh Silbaugh of Putney, Vt., to cancer. Hugh was a gifted teacher, educational leader and mentor, telemark skier, mountain biker, outdoorsman, reader, winner of games and solver of puzzles.
At Amherst, Hugh rowed, studied literature and sang enthusiastically in the Glee Club. We remember Hugh as a devoted husband, father, brother, friend, supporter and role model to the many lives he shaped.
Teaching, for Hugh, started as an act of rebellion, turned into an act of love and became an act of faith. He was an independent-school teacher and administrator, notably at Phillips Andover, Crossroads School, Putney School, Milton Academy and Northfield Mount Hermon. In 2012, concurrent with his day job, Hugh became a founding program director in the Independent School Teaching Residency master’s program at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught and mentored hundreds of Penn Fellows as they launched their teaching careers. Hugh earned a master’s degree in education from UCLA and a second master’s degree from the Harvard School of Education.
Hugh is survived by his wife, Cor Trowbridge; children Jay ’15 and Harry; sister Kate Silbaugh ’85, as well as Kate’s husband, Daniel Jurayj ’86; Cor’s siblings, Jamie Trowbridge, Bea Trowbridge Sanders ’87 and Phil Trowbridge; brother-in-law Dylan Sanders ’87; uncle Morgan Silbaugh ’57; cousin John Silbaugh ’85; and 10 loving nieces and nephews. Son of the late Jane and Hugh Silbaugh ’54 and brother of the late Harriet Silbaugh, Hugh is also survived by an adoring extended family and countless students and teachers at schools across the country who were influenced by his passion for the craft of teaching; his love of Shakespeare, poetry and singing; and his signature belief in the people around him and their goodness. A recording of his service may be found at vimeo.com/event/1733727.
—Kate Silbaugh ’85