Ruth Stanlie Smith Silver was born on November 1, 1930 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Joseph F. and Ruth Pingree Smith. Ruth was the first child of seven: Ida Smith, Lynne Smith Partridge, Raoul P. Smith, Denis P. Smith, Hyrum W. Smith, and Pauline Smith Jensen. Ruth attended Davis High School, but moved to Hawaii at the age of 16 where she graduated from Punahou School in 1948. She attended college at the University of Utah and the University of Hawaii and graduated with a bachelor's degree in speech commnication in 1952. While in college, Ruth was active in the Chi Omega soroity. Ruth continued her education and earned a master's degree in speech communication at the University of Hawaii. After gaining an education, Ruth served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to England in 1955. Upon returning from her mission, Ruth began teaching speech communications at the Church College of Hawaii from 1957 to 1960. She moved on to teach at Brigham Young University from 1961 to 1964. In 1964, Ruth met Harold F. Silver while on a trip back to England. They married in 1964 in the Hawaii Temple. After the marriage, the couple moved back to Denver, Colorado, where they lived for the next fifty years. While in Colorado, Ruth taught at the Colorado Women's College and served on various educational nd cultural boards including the Civic Center Conservancy, Colorado Ballet, the Denver Center Theatre, and the Denver Symphony. In 1984, Harold F. Silver passed away.

In 2014, Ruth moved from Denver, Colorado to Utah to be near family. She became ill and passed away on July 17, 2015. Ruth is buried at Fairmount Hampden Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.

Harold F. Silver was born on March 15, 1901 to Joseph A. and Elizabeth Farnes Silver in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended college at Columbia University, Brigham Young University, and University of Utah. In 1934, Silver founded the Silver-Roberts Iron Works Company. The name changed in 1940 to Silver Engineering Works after Harold bought out his partner. Silver was an inventor and invented the non-flammable dry cleaning process, sugar beet piling equipment, and the continuous mining machine. He also founded the Silver Steel Co. On February 20, 1929, Silver married Madelyn Stewart, and together they had four children: Brian Q., Barnard S., Elizabeth, and Judith. Madelyn passed away on September 26, 1961. In 1964, Silver met and married Ruth Stanlie Smith. He passed away on September 13, 1984 in Denver, Colorado.