Funeral Details

Small town girl makes good in Big City… AND finds and marries Prince Charming!

This is the headline for the story of Debbie Silverman Krolik, born on September 30, 1942, in the small town of Grand Forks, North Dakota, to the only pediatrician there at the time, Dr. Louis B. Silverman, and his bride of four years, Thelma (Kaufman), a Chicago native. A brother, David, followed five years later, born coincidentally on the exact same day of the year – they continued to celebrate their birthdays together every year!

In high school, she was musically inclined and was in the chorus of her high school's production of Brigadoon.

Afterwards she got a B.S. in Secondary Education (Theatre and English) at the University of Wisconsin, and student-taught in Janesville, Wisconsin. Teaching wasn't for her, though, and Debbie went off to live with her grandmother in LA, to seek her fortune on the West Coast. But after a short time, she returned to Chicago (probably to be closer to Mom and Dad in Grand Forks, whom she visited at every opportunity).

In Chicago she got her very first job at the prestigious D'Arcy Advertising Agency in the Prudential Building. After working there a number of years, she moved on to radio and TV, becoming a producer for radio stations WLS and WBBM, and then for Chicago TV CH 7, WLS/ABC: Kennedy & Co. and Emmy Award-winning A.M. Chicago. At A.M. Chicago, she worked with a number of celebrities, including Regis Philbin and Charlie Rose, and journalists Steve Edwards and Sandi Freeman.

Later she moved on to public relations, and worked for the Gold Star Sardine Bar cabaret and Rick's Cafe Americain in Chicago. At the Drury Lane Theater Water Tower Place, she publicized the likes of Tony Bennett, Pearl Bailey, Louie Bellson, Lena Horne, Carol Channing, Cloris Leachman, Peggy Lee, Shelley Winters, and Elizabeth Ashley, to name but a few. She was Tony Bennett's Chicago publicist for decades, until his recent (possible!) retirement – this was a highlight of her professional career and a treasured friendship in her personal life.

In 1984 she opened up her own public relations firm as a Chicago-based entertainment publicist, promoting concerts,
theatre, film, and television. So many actors, musicians, and comedians benefited from her work, including more recently her good friends Danny Goldring and Doug Allen Nash.

But the crown jewel of her life was when she met and fell in love with dental implant pioneer and Chicago's "Dentist to the Stars", Dr. Paul (Pay-she) Krolik, whom she married at a fairytale wedding at the Fairmont Hotel in 1996. Debbie's family circle was now expanded by the addition of her husband's family, including his two daughters, Beth and Jil, and his by the addition of her family, including her mother Thelma and brother David.

Debbie and Pay-she were very happy in their new life together: both found their dreams' fulfillment in each other. They especially enjoyed traveling regularly to Pay-she's native Winnipeg, Manitoba, and also seeing Tony Bennett perform during summers at Ravinia.

Sadly, her husband passed away in 2004, and Debbie never ceased memorializing his life and their marriage in a continuing series of adoring and ever-changing Facebook posts about him. She was instrumental in having an honorary street sign dedicated to him, where it is now displayed at the corner of Washington and Wabash, the site of his old dental office.

Debbie was also totally devoted to her parents and brother, visiting with them as often as she could throughout her life. When her father passed away in 1993, she took her Mom in to live with her and then later with her new husband, until her Mom's death in 2002. She never tired of giving worldly advice and assistance to her long-suffering little brother, to whom she was very attached – and he now so much misses that advice he used to resist…

Debbie faithfully observed the major Jewish holidays, and would always recite prayers in memory of those she loved who had passed on.

She continued to work tirelessly at her public relations job, up to a few months before her death, due to complications from esophageal cancer. Surrounded by loving family and friends, God took her Home on April 3, 2023.

She will be greatly missed by her many friends and relatives, including her brother David Silverman, step-daughters Beth and Jil Krolik, step-son Danny, aunt Elaine Kaufman, and cousins Stacey Singer, Stephen Silverman, Karen Kaufman Gray, Stephen Kaufman, Robert Kaufman, Arnold Kaufman, and Stuart Kaufman; plus grand-cousins and great-grand-cousins and even more step-relatives.

She was a warm, bright light in the lives of so many. Now her star shines in the heavens where so many of those she has known have gone before her. Bright lights and dim, they are all stars in the constellation of Love created by God – every one of them equal in His Eyes – His own very dear children.

Graveside service Tuesday, April 11, 11:00 AM at Memorial Park Cemetery, 9900 Gross Point Rd, Skokie. A Memorial Service will be held online via Zoom in a few weeks. Please call Chicago Jewish Funerals if you wish to be notified when the memorial service is scheduled. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Debbie's memory can be made to the Dr. Louis B. and Thelma K. Silverman Medical Endowment at the University of North Dakota, 1301 N. Columbia Rd., Stop 9037, Grand Forks, ND, 58202-9037 Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals, 847-229-8822, www.cjfinfo.com