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Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Vienna man’s service to volunteer fire department spans 7 decades
Posted by:
Fire Marshall Bill
()
Date: August 28, 2011 08:42PM
Vienna man’s service to volunteer fire department spans 7 decades
By Kali Schumitz
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vienna-mans-service-to-volunteer-fire-department-spans-7-decades/2011/08/22/gIQAqZoVgJ_story.html
(Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times) - Sam Savia stands in front of a 1946 fire engine at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department. The Sam Savia Apparatus Bay is named in his honor. Some 70 years after he joined the department at 15, Savia still lives down the street.
Attachments:
By Kali Schumitz
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vienna-mans-service-to-volunteer-fire-department-spans-7-decades/2011/08/22/gIQAqZoVgJ_story.html
(Shamus Ian Fatzinger/Fairfax County Times) - Sam Savia stands in front of a 1946 fire engine at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department. The Sam Savia Apparatus Bay is named in his honor. Some 70 years after he joined the department at 15, Savia still lives down the street.
Attachments:
Re: Vienna man’s service to volunteer fire department spans 7 decades
Posted by:
Denis Griffin
()
Date: August 28, 2011 09:45PM
God bless guys like Sam Savia. I have never met him but I feel that I owe him some gratitude. It is guys like him that made the Fairfax County Fire Department one of the best in the world. The Department started as a group of independnt volunteer stations and evolved into a world class organization. I served 26+ years in a neighboring jurisdiction as a paid firefighter and I realize that Northern Virginia would never had had the high level of fire protection that is afforded the citizens without the effort that guys like Sam. Thank You Sam!
Please do not lower yourself to criticize the Department for things such as take-home-vehicles on this thread. Let's use it to pay homage to guys like Sam who have dedicated their lives for the betterment of their community.
Please do not lower yourself to criticize the Department for things such as take-home-vehicles on this thread. Let's use it to pay homage to guys like Sam who have dedicated their lives for the betterment of their community.
Re: Vienna man’s service to volunteer fire department spans 7 decades
Posted by:
Yucky24
()
Date: August 28, 2011 11:08PM
Fuck him.
He's an Old White Man.
And therefore an evil oppressor!
He's an Old White Man.
And therefore an evil oppressor!
Re: Vienna man’s service to volunteer fire department spans 7 decades
Posted by:
Yankees27
()
Date: August 28, 2011 11:18PM
Go fucking kill yourself you fucking racist I hope u die in a fire and he doesn't save your racist ass. God bless this man for his service u should be happy u live in this country fuckhead
Re: Vienna man’s service to volunteer fire department spans 7 decades
Posted by:
Ffxco
()
Date: September 03, 2011 02:01PM
Long live u yankees27, this is the definition of a man
Vienna Loses ‘A Good Man’ - Community mourns loss of much-loved resident, fire department patriarch
Posted by:
Fire Marshall Bill
()
Date: December 26, 2011 02:54AM
Vienna Loses ‘A Good Man’
Community mourns loss of much-loved resident, fire department patriarch.
By Donna Manz/The Connection
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=356785&paper=73&cat=104
Simone "Sam" Savia, 85, died on Dec. 9 at his home in Vienna, not far from the house where he was born and even nearer to the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department station house where Savia served until he passed away.
A lifetime member of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, with 70 years of service to his credit, a Vienna Host Lion for 50 years, a man who coached Vienna Little League baseball for many years since its inception, a church man who volunteered at Our Lady of Good Counsel and St. Mark’s, and, to many in Vienna, a loyal friend, Sam Savia was more than a well-known Vienna personality. He was well-loved by all who knew him.
Savia was an inductee in the Virginia Firefighters Hall of Fame and a former ViennaTysons Regional Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
On July 25, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department honored Savia for his 70 years of service, drawing family, friends and dignitaries to the program.
In his remarks that July day, Chief John Morrison referred to Savia’s "unwavering commitment to community and the fire department."
In the from-the-heart program saluting Savia, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department presented to Savia an inscribed mounted ceremonial fire ax. At the ceremony’s conclusion, draping dropped from the ceiling, unveiling the banner renaming the apparatus bay as the Sam Savia Apparatus Bay. Savia was overcome.
" … when we honored him [for his 70 years of service], Sam looked at me and said, ‘why are you making such a fuss? I did not do anything special.’ He was so wrong. He instilled values of family, honor and respect in the younger members of the department," said Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary president Joan Dempsey.
When Savia died on Dec. 9, surrounded by family, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department dispatched an ambulance to his home to bring Savia to Money & King Funeral Home. A career fire engine drove behind the ambulance. They were escorted by Vienna Police Department vehicles that led the cortege, sirens and lights on.
SAVIA’S VIEWING at Money & King Funeral Home was as much a tribute to a man called even-tempered and a friend to everybody as it was an opportunity to pay respects. Outside Money & King on Maple Avenue, the 1946 Maxim fire engine that Savia once rode in sat parked and draped in black bunting. Inside, an honor guard of Fairfax County firefighters kept "casket watch" over Savia.
The fire station on Center Street draped black bunting across its building and on the firefighters’ monument out front.
"What made Sam special was just his desire to give to his community and expect nothing in return," said Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Morrison. "He served as a role model to the department.
"In Sam’s 70 years with the department, there were ups and downs, but Sam never complained. He always stuck it out. Sam was a great integral part of the fire department."
The entire station was out-of-service on Dec. 14 to honor Savia. The Vienna Police Department escorted the fire equipment and antique fire truck that led the procession from Money & King to St. Mark’s Church. Behind the hearse was more fire equipment from Vienna, and from McLean and Springfield stations.
Fairfax County volunteer and career fire department personnel lined the walkway from the hearse to the doors of the church, saluting the casket and family as they passed.
The Maxim, as well as fire equipment from other stations, followed the procession to the cemetery.
Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary members prepared the buffet reception for guests after interment at National Memorial Park. Fairfax County Police provided a dozen-vehicle contingent of motorcycle officers to escort the procession.
Among the mementos of Sam Savia set out at the fire station was an official statement from U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) to Congress, commending the life of Simone "Sam" Savia.
Savia was Vienna Volunteer Fire Department president when Vienna Master Police Officer Bill Murray came in as a 16-year-old fire department recruit. Murray looks back at the "guff" that Savia put up with from the young recruits. "He was a great guy," said Murray. "The most even-tempered, mild-mannered guy you could meet."
Like others, Murray marvels at the encyclopedic knowledge Savia had of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department station on Center Street. "He was a great historian for the place," said Murray. "He knew the origin of everything, the whole history of the original building on Center Street."
Fellow Vienna Volunteer Fire Department lifetime members Tom Bonner, Gerald Miller and Charlie "Boots" Singleton shared memories of Savia, whose prowess at recruiting new volunteers is legendary. Savia brought in new recruits from the C & P telephone company where he worked, from St. Mark’s Church where he volunteered, and, even from the Little League ranks he coached.
"Sam was low-key," said Miller. "He never got mad, never had anything bad to say about anybody."
Bonner recalled fishing trips he took to South Carolina with Sam, and even away from home, Savia found a person to help. A stranger’s car broke down and Sam carted the driver to a gas station. "It was his nature of being helpful, not just to us, but to any person who came up to him needing help," said Bonner.
Singleton, too, described Savia as someone always willing to help anybody, anywhere, even strangers.
"Sam was a good man," said Singleton, himself celebrating 60 years with the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department in February 2012. "Everything he did, he took the time to do it right.
"He was a good man, a good family man. That’s it in a nutshell."
SAVIA PARTICIPATED in many Vienna Host Lions Club projects, friend Bob Bingham said, including helping to process donated eyeglasses for distribution to indigent people, mostly in third world countries.
"He believed in being very civic-minded and took part in many civic activities," said Miller. "Every Christmas, he always worked at the Lions Club Christmas tree stand."
Savia was born on July 28, 1926, in the family’s home above his father’s Church Street barbershop. Raising his young family, Savia and his wife Gertie moved to Oak Street.
He was preceded in death by his son, David; sister, Esther Moreland and brothers, Phillip and Alfred.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Gertrude Savia; his daughters, Lynn Perkins and husband, David of Burke, Karen Savia of Richmond and Mary Savia of Fairfax City. He is also survived by his sister, Antoinette Lynch, and nieces and nephews.
"Sam was quiet and assured," said Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins. "When he was doing the things that he did, they were things that needed to be done.
"What an example he was for the community. I’m glad I knew him."
To read about Sam Savia’s tribute from the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department on July 25, see http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2011/080311/Vienna.pdf, page 3. Sam Savia shared memories of growing up in Vienna with the Connection in August 2011. The story is at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2011/082411/Vienna.pdf, page 10. Memorial donations in Sam Savia’s name may be made to the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department or Evercare Hospice.
Community mourns loss of much-loved resident, fire department patriarch.
By Donna Manz/The Connection
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=356785&paper=73&cat=104
Simone "Sam" Savia, 85, died on Dec. 9 at his home in Vienna, not far from the house where he was born and even nearer to the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department station house where Savia served until he passed away.
A lifetime member of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, with 70 years of service to his credit, a Vienna Host Lion for 50 years, a man who coached Vienna Little League baseball for many years since its inception, a church man who volunteered at Our Lady of Good Counsel and St. Mark’s, and, to many in Vienna, a loyal friend, Sam Savia was more than a well-known Vienna personality. He was well-loved by all who knew him.
Savia was an inductee in the Virginia Firefighters Hall of Fame and a former ViennaTysons Regional Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.
On July 25, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department honored Savia for his 70 years of service, drawing family, friends and dignitaries to the program.
In his remarks that July day, Chief John Morrison referred to Savia’s "unwavering commitment to community and the fire department."
In the from-the-heart program saluting Savia, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department presented to Savia an inscribed mounted ceremonial fire ax. At the ceremony’s conclusion, draping dropped from the ceiling, unveiling the banner renaming the apparatus bay as the Sam Savia Apparatus Bay. Savia was overcome.
" … when we honored him [for his 70 years of service], Sam looked at me and said, ‘why are you making such a fuss? I did not do anything special.’ He was so wrong. He instilled values of family, honor and respect in the younger members of the department," said Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary president Joan Dempsey.
When Savia died on Dec. 9, surrounded by family, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department dispatched an ambulance to his home to bring Savia to Money & King Funeral Home. A career fire engine drove behind the ambulance. They were escorted by Vienna Police Department vehicles that led the cortege, sirens and lights on.
SAVIA’S VIEWING at Money & King Funeral Home was as much a tribute to a man called even-tempered and a friend to everybody as it was an opportunity to pay respects. Outside Money & King on Maple Avenue, the 1946 Maxim fire engine that Savia once rode in sat parked and draped in black bunting. Inside, an honor guard of Fairfax County firefighters kept "casket watch" over Savia.
The fire station on Center Street draped black bunting across its building and on the firefighters’ monument out front.
"What made Sam special was just his desire to give to his community and expect nothing in return," said Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Morrison. "He served as a role model to the department.
"In Sam’s 70 years with the department, there were ups and downs, but Sam never complained. He always stuck it out. Sam was a great integral part of the fire department."
The entire station was out-of-service on Dec. 14 to honor Savia. The Vienna Police Department escorted the fire equipment and antique fire truck that led the procession from Money & King to St. Mark’s Church. Behind the hearse was more fire equipment from Vienna, and from McLean and Springfield stations.
Fairfax County volunteer and career fire department personnel lined the walkway from the hearse to the doors of the church, saluting the casket and family as they passed.
The Maxim, as well as fire equipment from other stations, followed the procession to the cemetery.
Vienna Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary members prepared the buffet reception for guests after interment at National Memorial Park. Fairfax County Police provided a dozen-vehicle contingent of motorcycle officers to escort the procession.
Among the mementos of Sam Savia set out at the fire station was an official statement from U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) to Congress, commending the life of Simone "Sam" Savia.
Savia was Vienna Volunteer Fire Department president when Vienna Master Police Officer Bill Murray came in as a 16-year-old fire department recruit. Murray looks back at the "guff" that Savia put up with from the young recruits. "He was a great guy," said Murray. "The most even-tempered, mild-mannered guy you could meet."
Like others, Murray marvels at the encyclopedic knowledge Savia had of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department station on Center Street. "He was a great historian for the place," said Murray. "He knew the origin of everything, the whole history of the original building on Center Street."
Fellow Vienna Volunteer Fire Department lifetime members Tom Bonner, Gerald Miller and Charlie "Boots" Singleton shared memories of Savia, whose prowess at recruiting new volunteers is legendary. Savia brought in new recruits from the C & P telephone company where he worked, from St. Mark’s Church where he volunteered, and, even from the Little League ranks he coached.
"Sam was low-key," said Miller. "He never got mad, never had anything bad to say about anybody."
Bonner recalled fishing trips he took to South Carolina with Sam, and even away from home, Savia found a person to help. A stranger’s car broke down and Sam carted the driver to a gas station. "It was his nature of being helpful, not just to us, but to any person who came up to him needing help," said Bonner.
Singleton, too, described Savia as someone always willing to help anybody, anywhere, even strangers.
"Sam was a good man," said Singleton, himself celebrating 60 years with the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department in February 2012. "Everything he did, he took the time to do it right.
"He was a good man, a good family man. That’s it in a nutshell."
SAVIA PARTICIPATED in many Vienna Host Lions Club projects, friend Bob Bingham said, including helping to process donated eyeglasses for distribution to indigent people, mostly in third world countries.
"He believed in being very civic-minded and took part in many civic activities," said Miller. "Every Christmas, he always worked at the Lions Club Christmas tree stand."
Savia was born on July 28, 1926, in the family’s home above his father’s Church Street barbershop. Raising his young family, Savia and his wife Gertie moved to Oak Street.
He was preceded in death by his son, David; sister, Esther Moreland and brothers, Phillip and Alfred.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Gertrude Savia; his daughters, Lynn Perkins and husband, David of Burke, Karen Savia of Richmond and Mary Savia of Fairfax City. He is also survived by his sister, Antoinette Lynch, and nieces and nephews.
"Sam was quiet and assured," said Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins. "When he was doing the things that he did, they were things that needed to be done.
"What an example he was for the community. I’m glad I knew him."
To read about Sam Savia’s tribute from the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department on July 25, see http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2011/080311/Vienna.pdf, page 3. Sam Savia shared memories of growing up in Vienna with the Connection in August 2011. The story is at http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2011/082411/Vienna.pdf, page 10. Memorial donations in Sam Savia’s name may be made to the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department or Evercare Hospice.
Re: Vienna Loses ‘A Good Man’ - Community mourns loss of much-loved resident, fire department patriarch
Posted by:
tapawingo
()
Date: December 26, 2011 09:00AM
Sam was a good guy. He would laugh at this video.