Joseph C. Savery

LEE -- Joseph C. Savery, 78, of 185 Stockbridge Road died Sunday at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. He was a longtime member and former chairman of the School Committee and a former member of the state Board of Education.

Born in Pittsfield on Aug. 7, 1926, son of Joseph E. and Julia Pellisier Savery, he was a 1944 graduate of Pittsfield High School. He had lived in Lee since 1951.

An Army veteran of World War II, he served in the Pacific theater from 1944 to 1947.

Mr. Savery was employed by Western Massachusetts Electric Co., now part of Northeast Utilities Systems, from 1948 until his retirement in 1989 as manager of its real estate department. He was a licensed and bonded real estate broker, overseeing the company's rights of way for many years. He also sat on the utility's legislative and industrial development committees and community relations task force, and was an assistant director of economic development. He had worked at General Electric Co. in Pittsfield for a short time after the service.

During the 1960s, he was on loan from WMECO to the city of Pittsfield to be executive director of its Urban Coalition.

He was a communicant of St. Mary's Church, where he was a eucharistic minister and lector and former member of the choir. He was a leader for Boy Scout Troop 54 for more than 30 years and was awarded St. George's Cross by the bishop of Springfield for his many years as a Catholic scoutmaster. He was a past president of the Pittsfield Kiwanis and former member of the Lee Kiwanis, and served as lieutenant governor of the local Kiwanis district.

A member of the Lee School Committee for more than 25 years, he was appointed in 1982 to serve on the state Board of Education by former Gov. Edward King. He was chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Lee Industrial Development Commission, president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Library Association, Society of Real Estate Appraisers and the advisory board of Berkshire Bank in Lee.

He was a member of the Greenock Country Club and its Wednesday Morning League, the Lee Sportsmen's Association, Lee PTA and the Boys' Club Alumni Association. He also helped raise funds for local clubs and youth activities.

He and his wife, the former Florence Gomes, would have celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary April 3. They were married in St. Joseph's Church in Pittsfield.

Besides his wife, he leaves four sons, Joseph A. Savery of Windsor, Conn., Michael E. Savery of North Greenbush, N.Y., Thomas J. Savery of Pittsfield and Matthew J. Savery of Bozeman, Mont.; a sister, Mary S. Porter of Burlington, Conn., and seven grandchildren.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- The funeral for Joseph Savery, who died Jan. 23, 2005, will be Wednesday at 10:15 from KELLY FUNERAL HOME in Lee with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at 11 at St. Mary's Church. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery. Visiting hours will be today, Jan. 25, from 4 to 7 at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the Savery family requests that donations be made to the Joseph C. Savery Scholarship Fund in care of the funeral home, 3 Main St., Lee, MA 01238, for music students at Lee High School who intend to continue on in the study of music. He leaves his beloved grandchildren, Nathaniel, Caroline, Ryan, Patrick, Kathryn, Thaddeus and Alexis; and his daughters-in-law, Jayne, Erika and Kelly. He was predeceased by a brother, Jack.