Presley F. Savoy, 93, of Lumberton, died at 11:36 a.m., Thursday, July 12, 2012, at Harbor Hospice, Beaumont. He was born on March 31, 1919, in Pilette, Louisiana, to Gertrude Comeaux Savoy and Jules A. Savoy, and had been a resident of Lumberton for thirty years.
Presley was born shortly after World War I near Lafayette, Louisiana. This is Cajun French country and only French was spoken in the home where Presley grew up. He did not learn to speak English until he started school. During the hard times of the Great Depression, his family saw their own sad times as they lost their home.
As a young man, he went to work at Western Union Telegraph Company. Presley became a telegrapher and sent messages by Morse code to other Western Union offices around the country. This was the main way of communicating in those days, as telephone use was not widespread, and a long distance telephone call was too expensive. The Morse code was established by Samuel F. B. Morse, and it used dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet and numbers. Presley became very proficient at it.
He served in the United States Navy in the Pacific during World War II, and because of his experience, he became a communications man on the Aircraft Carrier USS Marcus Island, CVE77. Presley remembered sending love notes by Morse code to his future wife, Verdois Alexander. He was a Seaman 1st Class and was awarded AP, AT, and Victory ribbons. Presley was discharged on July 25, 1946.
After the War, he went to work at Missouri Pacific Railroad in DeQuincy, Louisiana, working again as a telegrapher. It was while working on this job that he met Reverend Marvin L. Cole, who at the time, was a very young man working in the Superintendent’s office at the Depot. The young Marvin would deliver messages to Presley who would send them by Morse code to their destinations. They never dreamed that one day Marvin Cole would be Presley’s pastor at The Apostolic Church in Beaumont. Their friendship has lasted all these years.
Presley married Verdois Alexander, on December 7, 1947, and they have celebrated over sixty-four years of marriage. Presley and Verdois were members of First Pentecostal Church in DeQuincy for many years before retiring and moving to Lumberton in 1983.
On his job at the railroad, Presley worked graveyard shift (night) for twenty-six years, with only Thursdays off. Time meant everything on the railroad. The telegrapher was responsible for sending code to distant cities, telling them exactly what time to leave their depot, heading to DeQuincy. The telegrapher’s watch must be exactly correct. The telegraphers had to have their Bulova or Seiko watches certified by a railroad-approved jeweler twice a year for accuracy, and then bring the signed certificate in to the depot as proof. One mistake in these jobs would result in days off without pay. Presley learned to appreciate the value of EXACT TIME and from then on, he always quoted exact times when telling a story. He saw the railroad go from steam engines to diesel and from telegraph to computer. Presley was a member of the “greatest generation” who helped make America strong.
He retired from Missouri Pacific in 1983, with forty-six years of service. On his retirement, he was presented with an old telegraph machine/sender as a memento of his early days.
Survivors include his wife, Verdois A. Savoy; daughter, Karen Hughes and her husband, Carlos; and granddaughter, Amber Hughes Landry and her husband, Shane, all of Lumberton; and sisters, Maudred Larson of Lafayette, Louisiana, and Emily Cusimano of Metairie, Louisiana.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and sister, Lena Benoit.
A gathering of Mr. Savoy’s family and friends will be from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Saturday, July 14, 2012, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. His funeral service will be 2:00 p.m., Sunday, July 15, 2012, at The Apostolic Church, 3333 Eastex Freeway, Beaumont, with interment to follow at Creel Memorial Gardens, Reeves, Louisiana.
Carlos Hughes, Randy Hughes, Eric Hughes, Shane Landry, Denny Cusimano, and David Larson will serve as pallbearers.
