Michael C. Savoy

On January 14, 2015, a patriot and genuine American hero died. Michael Collen Savoy, 74, of Lutz, Florida, passed away unexpectedly, but peacefully in his sleep. He served 30 years in the United States Air Force and an additional 17 with the United States Department of Defense, almost a combined half-century in service to his country. He defended freedom beginning with the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis through the post-9/11 War on Terror. It is with heavy heart that his family announces his passing. He was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, son, and friend to countless men and women he met around the world during his much-traveled lifetime. Mike was born on March 31, 1940, in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, to mother Myrtle Caroline Moe and Lloyd Andrew Hendricksen. His birthfather died four months later in a tragic accident. His mother remarried the next year to John Joseph Savoy who adopted Mike and raised him as his own son. Growing up in northwestern Minnesota, Mike developed an enduring appreciation for the outdoors and independence. He learned to hunt and fish at an early age. When he was 15, his family moved to Breckenridge, Minnesota, where Mike attended high school and excelled as a star athlete on the football team. Shortly after graduating from Breckenridge High School in 1958, he joined the Air Force and began what would be his lifelong passion – service to his country. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and additional training at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California, Mike was first stationed at Goose Bay Air Base in Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada. It was home to a radar station that was an integral part of the North American Air Defense Command at the height of the Cold War. Missions included launching and refueling nuclear-armed bombers as part of the U.S. strategy of 24-hour readiness in the event of an attack by the Soviet Union. In the early 1960s, Mike was stationed at Homestead Air Force Base at the southernmost tip of mainland Florida and just a few hundred miles from Cuba. He was there during the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. While in Florida, in 1964, he met and married his first wife Jerry Kay Garner. In the mid-1960s, they were assigned to Hickam Air Force Base and lived in Hawaii. As the Vietnam War escalated, Mike was assigned to work at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. It was here in the early 1970s where he became a father to two sons – Steven Michael and Timothy Alan. In 1972, the family moved to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany and then to Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, in 1976. Mike married his high school sweetheart Nana Karen Nelson in 1982. They were stationed at Aviano Air Force Base in Italy in the mid-1980s and later at Scott Air Force Base in O’Fallon, Illinois. In 1988, Mike retired from activity duty as a Chief Master Sergeant and the advisor to the director of manpower and organization at Headquarters United States Air Force Communications Command. Some of Mike’s active duty career highlights included being responsible for the utilization of 145,000 manpower resources within the Pacific Theater of operations and 61,000 manpower resources within the European Theater of operations. He also served as a detachment chief of a management engineering team with control of 2,600 manpower resources geographically dispersed throughout the Italian Peninsula and the Island of Sardinia. He had direct job placement authority for an additional 1,200 enlisted men and women serving worldwide. Very soon after retirement, Mike returned to service as a civilian working for the Department of Defense. In that role, he worked at U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, which is responsible for operations in the Middle East and North Africa. Mike’s focus there was on combatting terrorism and instability in a volatile region of the world. He was friends with a number of people who were killed in two terrorist attacks orchestrated by Al-Qaida – the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, and the September 11th attack on the Pentagon. When the September 11th attacks happened, Mike was in the country of Oman. During his work at Central Command, he also traveled to Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Kuwait. Mike was a resident graduate of the Strategic Air Command Noncommissioned Officer Leadership School, the Strategic Air Command Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the United States Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. His military decorations include five Meritorious Service Medals and two Air Force Commendation Medals. He was also the recipient of the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award. Mike will be interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. He will be remembered as an out-going, proud, and fun-loving man who was brilliant at solving problems and profoundly loyal to his family, friends, and brothers-in-arms. Mike is survived by his wife of 32 years Nana; sons Steven (Tawnya) and Timothy; step-daughter Tana Nelson(Radowski); step-daughter-in-law Juanita Nelson; grandchildren Savannah & Tayah (Savoy), Kevin (Jenna), Alesia & Bradley (Radowski), Tony, Anita & Robbie (Nelson); and great-grandchildren Johnny & Frankie (Radowski); brothers David (Nancy) and Greg (Connie); brother-in-laws Jim Tyvand and Norval Nelson; and his nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents John and Myrtle Savoy; biological father Lloyd Hendricksen; mother-in-law Fern Nelson; sisters Judith Gay Hendricksen, who died as an infant, and Mary Savoy Tyvand; step-son Michael Nelson; and nephew Thomas Tyvand. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent in Michael C. Savoy’s name to the Wounded Warrior Project at: https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/default.aspx?tsid=72 with acknowledgements sent (required at website) to: Nana K. Savoy, 1132 Fox Chapel Dr., Lutz, FL 33549