John "Baldy" Saville

1930 - 2012

John "Baldy" Saville passed from this life on Aug. 7, 2012.
Baldy was born in St. Louis, Mo., on Dec. 31, 1930, to John W. and Myra C. Saville.
He spent his early years in St. Louis, where he attended school and worked at the Anheuser–Busch brewery. At the brewery he would carry beer to the workers in a bucket, and he helped groom the famous Budweiser Clydesdales horses.
Before he left St. Louis, he left an indelible mark on the city by using his welding skills to help build the arch next to the Mississippi River that has come to symbolize the city and the opening of the West.
Baldy was proud of his honorable service in the U.S. armed forces in Korea. After the war, he settled in Salt Lake City, where he met and married the woman who would come to be known as Jane G. Saville. Work and adventure took them to Southern California and eventually Alaska. The last 35 years of Baldy's life were spent in the Goldstream Valley and the Fairbanks area.
The numerous friends Baldy made during these years will remember him for his beautiful sled dogs and the jingle of the bells on his sled. Baldy was a great storyteller, whether spinning a tall tale while bellied up to a bar or reciting Robert Service poetry for summer tourists. His uninhibited high-pitched squeal of a laugh will be missed by all those who listened to it over the years as he charmed his way through 18 holes on the golf course or drank yet another of his beloved Heinekens at a local watering hole.
Many of his friends have remarked that spending time with Baldy made them feel like they were playing hooky from school. There just seemed to be something slightly illegal with the joy he derived from life. If there was a zenith to Baldy's career as a popular man about town, it was the years he drove a Cadillac limousine for the well-heeled denizens of Interior Alaska. Whether he was picking up B.B. King or Cab Calloway at the airport, delivering a group of high schoolers to a prom or rushing a woman in labor to the hospital, Baldy radiated an affable charm as he pulled up to curbs, opened doors and made people feel like they were special. Part actor, part raconteur, part the best friend you ever had, Baldy left a trail of smiling people behind wherever he went.
Baldy will be especially missed by his stepdaughter, Dani Weber of Palmer. A Celebration of Life will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18 at Ivory Jack's.