John Savage

I was thinking today of people at The Point who had great presence and style and who contributed greatly to the community.  And how as they as no longer able to be here, how their presence is missed.  John Savage was one of those people.

John was third generation at The Point.  His grandparents were Major John "Alexander" Cooper and Agnes May Massie.  They had married in Kingston in June of 1896.  They had four children - Marjory McKenzie Cooper (b. 29 Jun 1897), a baby boy  who died in infancy in 1903, Norman Massie Cooper (b. 30 Dec 1904) and John J. Cooper (b. 1907)

The young family settled in at No. 12 Glen Road in Toronto, that tiny sliver of a street that runs south from Bloor Street, just east of Sherbourne.

No.10 and No.12 Glen Road, Toronto, in 1913 - possibly with the Cooper boys on the step

A journalist and author, Major Cooper served with the Fourth Canadian Infantry Brigarde and later wrote a book on their on the history of their operations from April 1915 through demob. The Coopers came to Sturgeon Point in the Summer of 1918.  They rented the Stewart Cottage from Lillian Greig Stewart of Lindsay, whose husband Thomas Stewart had died of the Flu in 1918.

The Coopers rented until about 1926-28 when they bought the house at the bottom of 2^nd Street across from their friends William & Ada (nee Dundas) Rundell.  

In time, the cottage passed to their daughter Marjory Cooper and her husband Reginald Savage.  They had two children, Joan and John.

John Savage, Lake Avenue, 1928 - abt age 2 or 3

Together they grew up here at The Point doing all the swimming, canoeing, sailing, the running of races and hanging out with friends that happens to every child who summers here.

Joan Savage, 1946 - Courtesy of the Roberts family

As John grew-up he did all sorts of things, including serving in the military.

In the 1970s, John and his partner Joe Rivard moved to Sturgeon Point year round.  They made the cottage at No.5 Second Street their year round home.  They worked in Lindsay, travelled extensively and built a wonderful life at Sturgeon Point.

John also became politically involved.  He ran and served as Reeve of Sturgeon Point - If you have an "Elect Doc Savage" button were would love a picture!  He worked hard for us as a Counsellor and as Reeve.

Pictures taken in the 1980s and at the 100th Anniversary Party in 1999

As the year round community grew at The Point, John was very much a part of it.  The people he had known all his life exemplified the extended family that this very special place creates.  His presence is missed.

But his home lives on and is now the very special cottage of a new famiy whose purchase of the property in 2010 has given the cottage a new lease on life.

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