Patricia S. Savage

1936 - 2024

After a brief illness, Patricia Stallings Kruppa Savage died on February 5, 2024 in Austin, Texas. She was predeceased by her parents, Russell Edward and Patricia Eden Stallings, and her brother and sister-in-law, Paul E. and Margaret D. Stallings. She is survived by her former husband Jimmie Savage, son Christopher Savage, and sister-in-law, Gail Savage, nephews Patrick Stallings and Paul Stallings, and niece, Catherine "Corkie" Aragon.

A life-long Texan rooted in a seemingly lost Texas liberal tradition, Patricia Stallings was born in Corpus Christi and lived her childhood years in Victoria and then Houston, where she attended Lamar High School. There she developed a talent for public speaking, going on to become a member of the prize-winning debate team at the University of Houston. In 1957 she was the first woman to win the prize for best individual speaker at the National Debate Tournament. When presented with the award, a man's watch, she demanded that it be replaced with a woman's watch, a harbinger of her future interest in women's issues. Interviewed by the Houston Couger about her postgraduate plans, Pat said she would go to graduate school to earn an MA and a Ph. D., and then teach. And she proceeded to do just that.

Awarded a Woodrow Wilson scholarship, she went to graduate school in history at Columbia University, where she completed her dissertation, "Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a Preacher's Progress," under the direction of R. K. Webb in 1968. She came to the University of Texas, Austin History Department in 1965 when her first husband, Joseph Kruppa, joined the English Department.

Pat quickly made her mark as a skilled and dynamic teacher. The primary focus during her 40-year career was teaching undergraduate students, particularly those in the Plan II program. Innumerable students flourished in her classrooms and under her mentorship. This was reflected in her winning numerous teaching awards. She received the Jean Halloway Award in 1982, the President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award in 1992, the Chad Oliver Plan II Teaching Award in 1993, became a Phelan Fellow, a recognition of faculty who have taught in the honors Plan II program for 20 or more years, and joined the Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2000. She was particularly proud of the Holloway award as it is the only teaching award chosen exclusively by students.

In the forefront of teaching the history of women, Pat pioneered the first courses on women's history at the University of Texas from 1972. She also served as the second Director of the Center for Women's and Gender Studies, which had been organized in 1978, from 1980 to 1982.

Pat published her dissertation as a monograph in 1982, and it remains a much-cited definitive account of the career of Charles Spurgeon. Her contribution to a collection of essays in honor of R. K. Webb, "'More suited to liquid than any other': Victorian Images of Mary Magdalene" in Religion and Irreligion in Victorian Society (1992) and an early call for the historical profession to open its ranks to women, "The American Woman and the Male Historian," which appeared in the Social Science Quarterly in 1974, both continue to be cited. She also published a wide range of book reviews that appeared in Catholic Historical Review, Albion, and the American Historical Review, among other scholarly journals. Taken together Pat's publications expressed her continuing interests in Victorian culture, material culture, the history of childhood, religious history, and women's history and embodied her meticulous approach to research and an incisive writing style.

Outside of her academic pursuits Pat enjoyed gardening, collecting art, antiques and collectibles, cooking, and preparing elaborate feasts during the holidays with her long-term friend and debate partner, Charles Ledbetter. She also enjoyed traveling – as an avid Anglophile to England and later on road trips to the national parks.

Pat co-parented her autistic son Christopher with former husband Jimmie Savage. Together they dedicated their joint estate to establishing The Christopher Eden Savage Memorial Endowment for Autism and Related Developmental Disabilities to support research into the causes of autism and services for adult autistic individuals at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, and the College of Education.

In accordance with Pat's wishes, there will be no service. Memorial contributions can be made to Chrisotpher's autism endowment online http://links.utexas.edu/biltoqq, or by mailing a check to University of Texas Development Office 2901 N IH35 Austin, TX 78722 with the endowment name in the memo line, or a charity of your choice. Please note the link for online donations will say it is for Dell Medical School's area of greatest need, but when you click on "Your Information" it will auto populate the endowment name in the comments and will note that the gift is in memory of Pat.