Herbert David Savitz, age 89, of Chelsea, Weston and Boston MA, and Naples FL, entered into rest on Dec. 26, 2014. He was the beloved husband of H. Adel (Shabshelowitz) Savitz for 63 years; devoted father of Andrew Savitz and his former wife Penelope McGee Savitz of Chestnut Hill, MA, H. Peter Savitz and his wife Alisa of Greenwich, CT, Matthew Savitz of Weston CT, and his former wife Ann Chrisman of Westport, CT, and Jonathan Savitz and his wife Kathy of Greenwich, CT; loving brother to Rita Gross and the late Lillian Pascal and Muriel Fritz; and adored grandfather of Louis, Daniel, Elliot, Sophia, Julianna, Jonah, Sarah, Olivia, Jacob, Noah, Zuzzie and Harry Savitz.
Herbert was born and raised in Chelsea, spoke Yiddish at home with his parents, played the drums in a dance band, graduated from the Shurtleff Elementary School and Chelsea High School, and kept hold of his close Chelsea friends for the rest of his life. He hoped to be a pilot, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943, was stationed in Greenland and started at first base for his squadron, despite being a lefty. Honorably discharged, he returned to Boston, opened Metro Trimming Company, and made a success of it for forty years.
He married Adel in 1951, which was the high point of his life. He felt blessed and very lucky to be with her, and wondered aloud what she saw in him. He deferred to her judgment and intelligence in all matters. With the possible exception of athletic achievement, he felt that every good thing that happened to him, or to their children, was because of Adel.
Herb had charisma, passion, energy and the kind of enthusiasm that made everyone feel more alive in his presence. With great taste in everything, he collected art, antiques and chiming clocks and he was always impeccably dressed. Other than praising his wife, bragging endlessly about his sons and listening to jazz and big band records, his favorite pastime was laughing and getting others to laugh with him. He frequented Jack’s Joke Shop and purchased countless hand-buzzers, Groucho masks, and plastic dog poop which he left on beds and floors and in coat pockets. He read three newspapers a day and spent six weeks at Cambridge University taking a course on Winston Churchill.
Herb didn’t like animals but he put up with two dogs, an alligator, several snakes, numerous frogs, dozens of gerbils - all from the first two “males” - and very large stump-tail baboon that was supposed to have been a small squirrel monkey. Herb was, above all else, dedicated to providing for his family, even if it meant getting up at night with the dog.
Herb was neat to the point of fastidious and went to his barber, “Mr. Chick,” every Friday for a trim and to swap jokes and stories about the North End and Chelsea. His nails were manicured and he wore Old Spice, smoked cigars, played golf and stood strongly for the proposition that “nothing beats a good steak.” Every pear, plum or apple he ever ate was first proclaimed to be “fruit of the gods!”
Always in the middle of the people he cared for, Herb was a role model and mentor to his nieces, nephews and many of his sons’ friends. Every morning at 6:30, he jogged with a group of twenty men from the Cambridge “Y” that were mostly there for the laughs. They all became fast friends and had breakfast together at the S&S Deli, five days a week, for thirty years. Herb was a “man’s man,” and everybody loved him.
Services will be held at the Waring Memorial Home, 178 Winter Street, Fall River MA on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015 at 11:30 AM. The interment will be at the Hebrew Cemetery, 73 McMahon Street, in Fall River, MA, immediately following.
Donations in Herb’s memory may be sent to the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston MA, the Walnut Street Shul, Chelsea MA, or the Cambridge YMCA.
Online condolences may be offered at www.stanetsky.com
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