David T. Savignac

David Theodore Savignac
David Savignac died peacefully on Monday, February 6, at the age of 82. Born in Webster Groves, Missouri, he grew up in Los Angeles and left home at the age of nine to study at the St. John Bosco School, then entered Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary to study for the priesthood. Concluding that he was not called to a priestly vocation, David left the seminary and spent three years in the United States Army, where he attended the Army Language School. After receiving an honorable discharge, David enrolled in the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies and majored in Russian Language and Literature. He ultimately went on to Stanford University, where he earned a PhD in Russian with a minor in Arabic, and received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Russia at Moscow State University.
In 1971, David moved to Maryland, settling in Severna Park, and began working for the National Security Agency as a civilian. He was a leading intelligence office during and after the Cold War, rising to the rank of Defense Intelligence Senior Level. In an era before Google Translate, he developed methodologies and algorithms for machine translation of multiple languages as NSA's first Director of the Center for Applied Machine Translation. For his work at NSA, David received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal awarded for "sustained selfless service of the highest order, and/or extraordinary and long lasting contributions to the Intelligence Community of the United States."
In retirement, David translated and published Russian medieval chronicles concentrating on the cities of Pskov and Novgorod and publishing them on Academia.edu for scholarly use. David loved cooking, tuxedo cats and all other animals. He read widely, enjoyed working in his yard and researching the genealogies of his family and his wife Nancy, which he posted on-line. Nancy met David after he responded to a personals ad she posted in the American Spectator. She, a southern Baptist, and he, a Roman Catholic, were married in a Lutheran Church in Columbia South Carolina. Later, they were long time members of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Crofton and Epiphany Episcopal Church in Odenton.
David is survived by his wife Nancy, by his two children Dora Savignac and Nataley Shea from his first wife Ingrid, his son-law Steve and Nancy's children Benjamin Stoddard of Prosperity, SC and Drew Stoddard of Lexington, Ben's wife Kelly and granddaughter Allison Jefferson of Charlotte, NC.
The funeral will be held at 10:30 on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at St. Stephens Episcopal Church and officiated by Father Victor Hailey. The evening before (Monday, February 13), the family will receive visitors at Hardesty Funeral Home in Gambrills from 5:30 until 7:00 p.m.