Veteran Swears He Isn't Dead Yet

Man to government: I'm not dead yet
BY STEVEN MAYER, Californian staff writer
smayer@bakersfield.com | Saturday, May 02 2009 12:00 PM


Joe Silva swears he's not dead, despite government's insistence to the contrary.

Still, when three separate gargantuan federal agencies say you've kicked the bucket, it may be time to check your pulse.

"I might be old but I'm not dead," Silva insists as he looks through a pile of paperwork spread across his kitchen table.

"Shouldn't the government require a copy of a death certificate before they terminate your retirement pension?"

The exaggerated reports of Silva's death came to light in April when the 77-year-old Bakersfield man received a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs addressed to "representative of the estate of Joseph F. Silva."

"We are sorry to learn of the death of Joseph F. Silva and wish to express our sympathy," the letter begins.

But the strains of compassion quickly yield to the business at hand: "Any checks received after the date of death ... should be returned."

That wasn't the end of it.

Next came condolences from Social Security along with a request for a death certificate.

But the real topper arrived from the federal Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the agency that keeps track of military pensions.

Silva's teenage son and daughter -- he became a dad again late in life -- each received letters dripping with funereal sentiment.

"We at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service-Cleveland Center are sincerely sorry to learn of the death of your father," the letters begin.

Oh, and by the way, the letter continues, there's some important business you probably should attend to.

more...

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x443328649/Man-to-government-Im-not-dead-yet

And this was about twenty years before her actual death. Another woman who had the same name as she did had died and apparently there was some confusion at the SSA about which one had died, especially since Grandma was out of town visiting my uncle and wasn't reachable at her home. It did get straightened out eventually but I don't know how much trouble she had to go through to get it fixed.