Peter Joseph Savage Jr.

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Peter Joseph Savage, Jr., 80, of Ellicott City, Maryland and Downingtown, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 12, 2022 at Sunrise Assisted Living of Exton.  Born in Gardner, Massachusetts, he was the son of the late Peter J. Savage, Sr. and Mary Doyle Savage.

He is survived by his wife, Ethelann Murray Savage, of Ellicott City, Maryland.  In addition to his wife, Peter is survived by his children, Rebecca Waddell, Gregory Savage, Christopher Savage (Meg) and Mark Savage (Jes) and by his grandchildren, Kaylie Savage, Christopher Savage, Hunter Savage, Anna Waddell, Brendan Keller and Matthew Keller.

Dr. Peter Savage received his undergraduate degree from Boston College and his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine.  Peter completed postdoctoral training in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Endocrinology/Metabolism at the Yale University School of Medicine. Following completion of training, he joined the U.S. Public Health Service, working at the Pima Indian Field Study of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) –National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK) in Phoenix, Arizona, where he conducted both clinical and epidemiologic research from 1972-1979.  In 1979, he moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was the Deputy Director of the Adult Care Unit in the Diabetes Research and Training Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan and then the Chief of the Endocrinology/Hypertension section of the VA hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Wayne State University.  

In 1986, he rejoined the NIH at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in Bethesda, Maryland, as Chief of the Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology Branch of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications (DECA). He became Deputy Director of DECA in 1996 and was DECA/DPPS Division Director 1999-2007. In this position, he was responsible for the leadership of multiple epidemiology studies, clinical trials and the NHLBI’s biostatistics research program.  While at the NHLBI, he played a major role in expanding clinical research on the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, including the planning and development of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial.  In 2008, following publication of initial findings from the ACCORD trial, he returned to the NIDDK as a Senior Advisor for Clinical Diabetes Studies in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism (DEM) of the NIDDK.  He retired in 2017 and moved to Pennsylvania.

While Peter enjoyed the work he performed as a physician, his greatest love was his family.  He was most happy when spending time with his children and grandchildren.  In his younger years, he loved to travel. Every summer, the family would take road trips all around the United States.  He loved the Rocky Mountains and all the beauty that the western United States had to offer. He liked to camp, hike and take photographs.   He spent many weekends on the sidelines of the soccer field, baseball field, lacrosse field, and sometimes the squash court.  In recent years, he enjoyed Christmas tree hunting, attending mass at St. Joseph Church and watching his grandchildren play soccer.

Services will be held privately with the family at St. Joseph Church in Downingtown.

Interment will be held privately with the family in Calvary Cemetery in Winchendon, MA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or to Catholic Charities Community Services (Catholic Charities of Arizona).

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