SH 1950 - 1954
We have been notified of the sad death of Stephen Savery who passed away on 14th April, aged 85. Our thoughts and best wishes go to his wife Jane, and those who knew him well.
The funeral for Stephen will be held on Tuesday 10th May from 3.15pm at West Wiltshire Crematorium, Devises Road, Semington, Trowbridge, BA14 6HL (Tel: 01380 871101), website: https://www.westwiltshirecrem.co.uk/
After the funeral, there will then be a gathering in Stephen’s memory at Hartham Park, Hartham Ln, Corsham, SN13 0RP. If you would like to attend, please let us know via TWS@wycliffe.co.uk or on 01453 820439 so that we can pass this on to Jane, as numbers are required for catering.
At Wycliffe:
Rugby 1st XV (Colts)
Swimming
Athletics
Member of the Literary Society, Dramatic Society, Art, Chess, Boxing.
The following obituary was published on June 6 via the quarrying industry website agg-net.com:
Much respected industry professional and spokesman passes away following short illness
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Stephen Patrick Antony Savery, who died peacefully at his home near Bath on 14 April 2022, aged 86, following a short illness. Stephen was born in Weston-super-Mare and educated at Wycliffe College, Gloucestershire, where he excelled at athletics. He was called up for National Service soon after leaving college and served for two years, first as an NCO weapons training instructor in the Middlesex Regiment before being commissioned into the Royal Sussex Regiment and serving in Germany and Austria. He was a competent soldier but chose quarrying as his natural métier. On completion of National Service, Stephen joined Amey Roadstone Corp. (ARC) as a trainee manager, progressing to quarry manager in 1960. His career took him through various management posts at ARC, reaching the position of divisional managing director in 1976. During his last three years with ARC he was a member of the Production Directors Committee. In 1979 Stephen joined The Redland Group as assistant managing director and eventually rose to deputy managing director. During his time with Redland he was extensively involved in developing quarry operations across the UK. He also visited the US to evaluate quarries with a view to purchase, and had responsibility for a quarry operation Redland were developing in East Africa.
Stephen retired in 1992 to set up a very successful consultancy where he earned a reputation as a competent expert witness in both legal and civil litigations covering environmental matters, planning applications (including the strategy for developing mammoth and coastal quarries), and health and safety issues. He served as the industry spokesman on a host of government and CBI committees, often at ministerial level, together with numerous steering groups and forums. In addition, Stephen gave presentations at the House of Commons as leader of CBI delegations, chaired the CBI Minerals Committee from 1991 to 1995, lectured in many parts of the world, and was a member of the steering group for the University of Bath’s PhD project on Environmental Management Systems. With no less than 11 published papers to his name, he also collected a quarrying industry archive spanning four decades, which covered an important period in the quarrying industry’s evolutionary process. The archive is lodged as the Records Office in Taunton. In such spare time as he had, Stephen was a military historian of World War I. He lectured on the subject at schools and various other venues and is the author of a book on the subject – The Western Front. Stephen’s contribution to the Institute of Quarrying was also significant. Having joined as a graduate member in 1966, he rose to Chairman of the IQ Council, President, International President, and was finally awarded an Honorary Fellowship. In a career stretching over almost half a century working in and for the quarrying industry, Stephen Savery made an outstanding contribution to the industry, its professional body, and its trade associations. The scope of his activities throughout his career was inspirational and remains so today.
Memories from OWs:
It was sad to hear of Stephen’s death on 14th April.
We kept in touch from the time we left Wycliffe. On many occasions we enjoyed his company with his wife Jane visiting Wycliffe for OW Days, the Carol Services and Millennium Celebrations.
We also spent several short holidays with them and Paul C Biggs (H 1950 – 1953) and his wife Joy, when of course the inevitable much reminiscing about happy times at Wycliffe ensued!
Stephen was a great friend, father and grandfather. He was popular and well respected both in his personal life and in his career with Redland.
He will be greatly missed.
– Jeremy Heenan (SH 1949 – 1953)
If you would like to have your memories of Stephen posted on this webpage, please feel free to email them to TWS@wycliffe.co.uk
