Alfred Everett Savage – Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army

From a contemporary press report

Alfred E. Savage, 83, a longtime Washington public transportation official who retired in 1976 as Metro’s director of maintenance and equipment, died of cancer April 3, 1999 at Suburban Hospital. He lived in Rockville, Maryland.

He joined the old Capitol Traction Co. as a streetcar mechanic helper before World War II. He rose through the ranks, becoming a vice president of the old D.C. Transit Co., a forerunner of Metro. After retiring from Metro, Mr. Savage worked for a time for ATE, a transportation consulting concern. In the early 1950s, he taught engineering at George Washington University.

He was a past president of the Association of Transit Equipment Men of the Middle Atlantic States, a past mechanical division chairman of the American Transit Association and a member of the Washington Society of Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers. He was a founding member, past president and director of the National Capital Trolley Museum and a past master of Chevy Chase Masonic Lodge No. 42.

Mr. Savage, a Washington native, graduated from Western High School and received an electrical engineering degree from the University of Maryland. During World War II, he served with the Army Ordnance Corps in the China-Burma-India theater and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He was an authority on local history. His hobbies included fishing, photography and ham radio. He was an enthusiast of vintage cars, trains and trolleys and a fan of comedy.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Ellen Coward Savage of Rockville; four children, Emily Thomas of Baltimore, Severn Savage of Woodbine, Marian Savage of East Dorset, Vt., and Katherine Savage of Rockville; 13 grandchildren; seven step-grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. A daughter, Caroline Sadler, died in 1980.

SAVAGE, ALFRED EVERETT (Age 83)

Of Rockville, MD, on Saturday, April 3, 1999, at Suburban Hospital, of cancer, beloved husband of Ellen Coward Savage; loving father of Emily Thomas of Baltimore, Severn Savage of Woodbine, Marian Savage of East Dorset, VT, Katherine Savage of Rockville and the late Caroline Sadler. Also survived by 13 grandchildren; seven step grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, April 10, at 2 p.m. at the Warner Memorial Presbyterian Church, 10123 Connecticut Avenue, Kensington, MD. His interment will take place later this spring at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations would be welcomed at the National Capital Trolley Museum, 1313 Bonifant Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20905, or may be made to your favorite charity.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard