Anne Pickett Savaria

Anne grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska with her older sister Ellen and younger brother Jimmy. She attended University of Nebraska and majored in English where she joined the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and made friends with a group of women who stayed connected through their lifetimes. Upon graduation, she ventured to San Francisco where she met Leon Savaria. Anne and Leon married in 1961 and moved to the Pacific Northwest, first Seattle and then settling in Portland, where Anne stayed and shared the rest of her life with three children, two grand-daughters and many relatives, friends and dogs.

Anne surrounded herself with friends, music and adventure. She loved the beach, opera, stylish fine clothing, and her dogs. She traveled, rode bikes, played a mean game of bridge, read voraciously, and attended music, theater, art, and literary events across the region. Famous for her pies, chocolate chip cookies and beautiful decor, dinners and parties were noisy, delicious and fun. She was always willing to walk into a room where she didn’t know anyone and walked away with three new friends. She worked for 30 years and up until the week before she died as the office manager for Don Pollock Investments. She was funny, smart, and a role model for many of the women in her life.

She is preceded by her parents, Lewis and Frances Pickett, her sister, Ellen Doty, a brother, James Pickett, and her son, Leon Savaria. She is survived by family, including children, Suzanne Savaria, Ellen Savaria, and Gordon Savaria, a son-in-law, Rick Watson, granddaughters, Anne Savaria-Watson and Josephine Savaria-Watson, and her beloved poodle, Lewis Walters Savaria.

We will celebrate Anne with a memorial service at Cheatham Hall at the World Forestry Center on Friday May 24 at 2pm.

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