He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Inez Alice Hamilton Savage; son Russell Dean Savage of Phoenix; and son Neal Hamilton (Marilyn Medwied) Savage of Tucson, and grandchildren Eric Dean Savage of North Carolina, Laura Suzanne Savage (Scott) Angell of Chandler, and Andrew Lawrence Savage and Jessica Lee Medwied-Savage of Tucson.
He is also survived by sisters Betty Savage Deck, of Springfield, MO; and Maxine Savage Casort, of Green Valley; brothers John (Sandy) Savage, of Ravenna, KY; Frank (Carol) Savage, Huntsville, AL; Claude “Bill” (Diana) Savage, San Jacinto, CA; and several nieces and nephews.
George Luther Savage was born Aug. 18, 1917, in Mound Valley, KS, the oldest child of Clare Cecil and Edna Lenore Nichols Savage.
George worked while attending Mound Valley (Kansas) High School, where he was one of 10 members of his graduating class in 1936. He was employed throughout the late 1930s at lumber yards, a railroad and then at Boeing Aircraft Company in Wichita, where he was a metal fabricator during most of World War II.
He was working in Belle Plaine KS, a farm community that is home to the Hamiltons and where he met Inez. They were married on July 16, 1940, and settled in Belle Plaine after two years in Wichita.
In the final months of the war, George was drafted into the U.S. Army, and served in the Philippines and in occupied Japan, rising to the rank of master sergeant.
In 1953 George was appointed postmaster of Belle Plaine by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He had served as a rural mail carrier and clerk.
In January 1955, the family relocated to Tucson, where George was employed at Hughes Aircraft Company in a variety of technical positions. He and Inez and Neal moved to Willcox AZ, where George was a general contractor and sold insurance. George and Inez returned to Tucson in 1968, and pursued their interests in travel and genealogy after retirement in the 1970s.
George was a member of Odd Fellows Lodge, Civitan Club and a lifetime member of the Belle Plaine Masonic Lodge.
He was baptized in the Methodist Church. In Tucson he and Inez were founding members of St. Mark’s Methodist Church, where he taught a young peoples’ class. They later joined Casas Adobes Congregational Church, where he also taught youth classes. In Willcox, he and Inez were sponsors of the Methodist Youth Fellowship.
He maintained a lifelong interest in politics, including serving on the Pima County Republican Committee.
A memorial service held on Saturday, May 3, 2008 will be at 1 p.m. at Casas Adobes Congregational, followed by a reception.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to:
- Casas Adobes Congregational
Church, 6801 North Oracle Road,;
- the non-profit, volunteer Friends
of Agua Caliente, Inc., (more
info) on behalf of the Pima County park, PO
Box 32005, Tucson, AZ 85751; or
- Peppi’s House, (more info) the hospice at Tucson Medical Center.
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