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Arthur Savage, 86, Pelham Lawyer, Conservancy Advocate

PELHAM, N.Y. – Arthur V. Savage of Pelham died Dec. 26. He was 86.

A longtime attorney, Savage was an environmental conservancy advocate.

Savage was born in New York City and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. He served in the Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946. He was stationed in Japan as part of the post-war occupation.

Savage received a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1948 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1952.

He practiced law in New York City for more than 60 years. In addition to his private practice, Savage served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1957 to 1961. He also served as assistant chief of the civil division from 1959 to 1961.

Savage served as the first chairman of the New York Bar Association's special committee on environmental law and on the executive committee of the section on environmental law. At the time of his death, he was of counsel to Patton, Eakins, Lipsett, Martin & Savage.

Savage served on many public and private organizations that helped shape environmental and conservation policies in New York. He was a member of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, where he was a founding trustee in 1952, Adirondack Nature Conservancy, which he co-founded in 1973, and Parks & Trails New York.

He served as commissioner of the Adirondack Park Agency from 1979 to 1997 and as a trustee of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, both by appointment of the governor.

Savage was also affiliated with the Havens Relief Fund Society, Bruce L. Crary Foundation, Princeton Blairstown Center, Darrow School, George W. Perkins Memorial Foundation, Walbridge Fund, New York Theological Seminary and the Board of Foreign Parishes.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Harriet Boyd Hawes; four children, Richard Savage, Elizabeth Wright, Sarah Christie and Katherine Schulze; nine grandchildren; and two sisters, Susan Speers and Serena Baum.

A memorial service was held Jan. 5 at Christ Church in Pelham. Memorial donations may be made to the Adirondack Council, P.O. Box D-2, Elizabethtown, NY 12932.

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