A swell kid but spoiled!
Years ago, we found a picture that was well worn of a beautiful young woman with this comment written on the back. With probing, we found out this picture was a photo that a handsome man carried in his wallet throughout his life, until his passing on November 19, 1980.
This is the legacy of Alma Signe Helena Savas (nee Arvelin) who passed away peacefully at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre on November 15, 2016.
Alma’s life began on January 6, 1920, born into a Finnish family in Port Arthur. She was the fourth child of seven. She lived through the depression and always talked about the real china doll that she received for Christmas at the school exchange during that time. She met the handsome guy one house away who came from a loud family that scared her.
Despite this fear, she fell in love with this dark haired Greek man named Jack Charles Savas who sold his motorcycle to buy her a ring and they were married in the early 1940’s. Jack then decided to enlist in the Navy during WW II and was gone for years. During that time, Alma worked at the local Sheriff’s office and, in fact, almost became Deputy Sheriff until her husband came home from the war.
Jack and Alma started their family with the birth of Sharon Diane in 1947, then Mark John in 1954 and, finally, with Penny Lynn Catherine in 1960.
So, let’s talk about her being spoiled! Her family was her life. She loved all of her siblings and had close relationships with all of them.
She was the glue with a very giving spirit. Alma was the first person to say how very grateful she was for what she had in her life, despite all of her challenges and adversities. Her faith gave her so much strength. She was a long time member of Bethel Lutheran Church.
She was so proud of her family. Anyone who her children or grandchildren loved, she loved too. She took great pride in all of their accomplishments. Alma was also spoiled in the fact that she lived to celebrate the lives of her great grandchildren.
She was truly spoiled in her survival and thriving from contracting polio as a child, loving a husband who suffered the traumas of war, losing her eldest daughter in 2004, and recognizing that terrible things happen for reasons that only God can explain.
She outlived all of her siblings and most of her friends. She was a truly remarkable woman. She loved her fashion which was gifted to her by her eldest sister, Sylvia, who owned a boutique in Toronto.
She talked about being a teenager and her glass-healed shoes and other clothes that Sylvia would send her. Alma always made sure that her children and grandchildren valued the finer quality of life-whether it was perfume, silk, lace, silver or china. It is all of us who have been very spoiled with these things.
Alma will be greatly missed by her son Mark (Ann Marie); daughter Penny; son-in-law Jim; grandchildren Allane (Randy), Melissa (Jonathon), Kristina (Henning) and Melanie (Cale); great grandchildren Adam, Connor, Madyn, Elias and Jakob. Many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and other extended family will also have fond memories of Alma.
She was truly blessed with everyone she had in her life. She lived through the loss of her parents, husband Jack, siblings Carl, Sylvia, Aili, Elvi, Ed and Bobby, daughter Sharon and son-in-law Brent.
A private family graveside service has been held.
The family would like to thank the staff of PR Cook for the care and support Alma received while living there over the past 12 years. We would also like to thank the staff on 2B at TBRHS, especially Laura, Erin and the Palliative Care Nurse Amy, for all of your compassion through the end of her life.
In her memory, we as her family ask that you take a moment to spoil the people in your life and tell them how much they mean to you.
