JEAN H. SAVAGE (1926-2025)

Jean H. Savage, 98, of Cromwell, CT, died on February 28, 2025 in Hartford, CT. She was the wife of the late Freeland A. Savage. They had been married for 51 years when Freeland died on May 22, 2017.

She was born June 8, 1926 in Newark, NJ, the daughter of the late Percy W. and Edith (Anderson) Hart. Following graduation from Barringer High School in Newark, she attended Syracuse University and graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. She was a member of Gamma Phi Beta national sorority at Syracuse. She married the late Richard S. Coffin in 1950.

Jean is survived by a son, Jeffrey Hart Coffin (Wendy) of Gresham, OR and a daughter, Nancy Coffin McClurkin (Jim) of Catawba, NC and was predeceased by another daughter, Suzanne Coffin Carpenter (Ken) of Leesburg, FL and a stepdaughter Deborah Savage (partner Jeff Lauersdorf) of Escalante, UT. She also had two other stepdaughters: Rebecca Bodycoat (George) of Colebrook, CT; and Penelope Ziarnik (Mark) of New Harbor, ME; and one stepson, Stuart Russo-Savage (Donna) of Groton, VT. She also leaves 11 very special grandchildren, five great-granddaughters, and three great-grandsons.

Jean and Freeland lived in the following places after their marriage:  Wilbraham, MA; Tolland, CT; South Orleans (Cape Cod), MA; Kingfield, ME; and Stockton Springs, ME, prior to Cromwell, CT. Jean was employed as secretary to the principal of Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, MA for many years. After their move to Connecticut, she did administrative work in the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. She and her husband both retired in 1983. Following retirement, both became involved in volunteer activities, including:  Habitat for Humanity; service programs with Elderhostel; a community housing program in Kingfield, ME; Meals on Wheels; and library work associated with Jean’s hobby of genealogy. They enjoyed traveling and made many trips across the U.S. as well as overseas, where they delved further into family genealogy in England and Sweden. 

Jean enjoyed choral singing and sang in several church choirs, as well as with the Dessoff Choirs in New York City and the Hartford, CT Symphony Chorale. She worked for the U.S. Census Bureau as a census taker in Orleans, MA (1990); Kingfield, ME (2000); and Stockton Springs, ME (2010).

She loved classical music, reading, crossword puzzles, computer word puzzles, genealogy research, computer research of all kinds, and family photography, but most of all enjoyed spending time with her husband and with her family and friends.She also enjoyed volunteering in various areas of Covenant Living, the community where she lived for 10 years before her death:  compiling biographies for new residents; Hospitality Committee; Library Committee; Communications Committee. Jean was a member of First Church United Church of Christ, Middletown, CT.

A memorial service will be held in Kingfield, ME at a later date, for both Jean and Freeland. If people wish, donations may be made to the Covenant Living of Cromwell Benevolent Care Fund, 52 Missionary Road, Cromwell, CT 06416.