Disagree tbh. In a lot of circumstances applause is better; when celebrating the life of someone who had a good innings and didn't die in some atrocity or disaster of course.
One of my pals is a Blackburn fan, he said years ago they had 2 minutes silence for Jack Walker at the first home game after he died; totes emosh, not a dry eye in the house, almost eerie quietness even after the 2 minutes were over... and Blackburn two goals down within 15 minutes. Always stuck with me that.