Captain William "Bill" Dana Savage

William “Bill” Savage died peacefully June 6, 2023 at his Colorado Springs home surrounded by family. He fought a long battle with prostate cancer. Bill was born in Hanford, California to parents, Eleanor and Patrick Savage. He and his sister Patty grew up in Detroit and Bill was still friends with people he went to Edison Elementary School with! Bill started his university time at his beloved Ferris Institute (or as he referred to it, the Harvard of the Midwest) and then transferred to Michigan State University where he met his wife Diane (though they both went to Redford High School together) and earned a bachelor degree in education. He had a great time at MSU (with the young republicans) and post graduation continued to support the Spartans and attend games. After some time teaching history and special education, Bill joined the US Army and was deployed to Vietnam. During his time in the Army, Bill earned a master degree in special education at William and Mary and a master degree in science at USC.

Bill served in the US Army for 20 years, retiring (from the military) in 1986. The family then moved from Hawaii to their home state of Michigan. Bill and Diane later moved to Texas, Southern California, eventually settling in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Post military, Bill worked in telecommunications for many years, transitioning into consulting before retiring for good. He also loved volunteering, contributing his valuable time and skills to SCORE (helping transitioning military members) and Rotary (in Kauai and Colorado).

Bill lived life to the fullest and enjoyed many people, places, and hobbies. Perhaps his love of travel began with the places he traveled to while in the Army, including Germany and Hawaii. He even did a stint in Amsterdam while consulting and made many friends in the Netherlands. He loved Paris and said it was one of his favorite cities, full of history, art, beautiful architecture, and delicious food. While stationed in Germany the second time, he and Diane took the kids to visit many places in Europe including captaining a boat through the canals of France, train trips to Berlin (and even East Berlin), ski trips to Garmisch & Berchtesgaden (though he preferred to cross country ski and enjoy the gluhwein at the cabins along the trails), and going to F1 races with his friends.

While in one of his favorite places, Kauai, he picked up paddle boarding. He loved paddling in the rivers of Kauai, reservoirs of Colorado, and even in Vietnam on a recent vacation there. It was a fun activity for him to do with his daughters. Bill loved time at a good pub (O’Reillys in Amsterdam and The Golden Bee in Colorado Springs) and sharing some frosty IPA’s with friends and family. He picked up rugby while in Germany and continued to play and attend matches around the world. Bill enjoyed running, completing a marathon and participating in numerous 5k’s and turkey trots. Bill stayed active by taking part in Tom Guthrie's '300 club' where the goal is to exercise every day for at least 300 days per year. He was very successful and in 2021, walked an average of 12,000 steps/5 miles per day for all 365 days! In Germany he and Diane took the girls on many volksmarches, tiring the kids out walking through the forests. Bill enjoyed sailing and took his boats (Cheryl's Gift docked in Pearl Harbor “Yacht club” and Freedom docked in Dana Point) out as often as he could (usually with his daughters and sometimes some very unhappy cats).

Bill enjoyed his cars, from the British racing green TR7 (that oddly pumped out heat all the time), a green Chevy Blazer (with roll bar), the final green car, his first Corvette, and his most recent love, his 2017 Corvette. He taught his daughters how to drive stick, which was an extreme test of patience for Bill and for the car. He was a girl dad before it was a thing, and taught his daughters so much. He was so happy anytime one of his girls played a sport and was supportive of all their adventures. He tried to pass on his passion of history (the history channel was a favorite) to his daughters. He did share and pass on his zest for life, love of good food, a nice latte, cats (especially tuxedo and Siamese cats), paying it forward, travel, and life lessons that will last forever.

In the past few months friends, family, past coworkers, Rotary members, and fellow soldiers from near and far came to visit Bill. They shared memories, stories, and laughs. He had an amazing impact on so many peoples lives.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Diane, his three daughters Karen, Jennifer, and Shannon, two grandsons, James and Jacob, his sister Patty, sons-in-law Ron and Phil, and his two cats Felix and Gizmo.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MtViewMortuary.com for the Savage family.