By F.A. Krift
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Even at the end, Albert Savolskis wanted to take his wife to the movies and vote on Election Day.
"He could barely walk, and he had no strength and obviously hadn't been driving for six months," said his son-in-law, Bill Glenn. "With conviction, he wanted to take his wife out to the movies."
That was Savolskis, his family said, a lover of travel and a handyman typically on the move.
Albert J. Savolskis of Munhall, a funeral home owner for 43 years and director for six decades, died Monday, Nov. 3, 2008, at home. He was 91.
"He was definitely not one to sit," said his daughter, Nancy Funa. "Not at all."
Mr. Savolskis visited six continents, hopped trains as a teenager and left high school after 10th grade. The son of a Lithuanian-born coal miner, he was one of 12 children.
Mr. Savolskis met his wife, Dorothy, when she came into his brother's grocery store in Homestead. He worked behind the butcher counter. She asked for pork chops. He asked for a date and gave her an extra chop, their daughter Dotty Wasik said.
They married in 1940. After serving in the Navy, Mr. Savolskis returned to Homestead and earned his general educational development diploma before finishing mortuary school. He worked for his father-in-law's business, Prokopovitsh Funeral Home.
After 20 years there, Mr. Savolskis started his company in 1965, Savolskis Funeral Home, now Savolskis-Wasik-Glenn Funeral Home in Munhall. His sons-in-law David Wasik and Glenn are partners.
"Al was the kind of guy who felt he could do anything," Glenn said. "He'd stick his neck out and take a risk and have enough confidence in himself."
He was on the Steel Valley School District board of directors, president of the West Mifflin Lions Club and a founding member of the Lithuanian Country Club of Pleasant Hills.
One of Mr. Savolskis' favorite places was Mexico. He'd travel there often and built a shack off the funeral home apartment for himself he called "La Boca," reminiscent of little villas along Mexico's Pacific Ocean coast.
Mr. Savolskis built La Boca with used materials, even the nails, something that he was proud of, said son-in-law Jack Funa.
"He figured out how to do it out of nothing, like an Egyptian building a pyramid," Jack Funa, an engineer, said of his father-in-law's ability. "I would be just amazed."
In addition to his wife and four daughters -- Nancy Funa, Dotty Wasik, Lulu Glenn and Sue Wonsock -- Mr. Savolskis is survived by a brother, Edward Savolskis; sisters Victoria Savolskis, Josephine Senatt, Eldona Sabo and Mildred Veslany; 15 grandchildren; and 38 great-grandchildren.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Savolskis-Wasik-Glenn Funeral Home Inc., 3501 Main St., Munhall. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Friday in St. Therese Church, Munhall.
