Lisa Savereid of Charlestown, MA passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, May 11. She will be profoundly missed by her entire family and by all who knew her as a friend or colleague.
Lisa was born on July 27, 1955, in Northampton, MA to parents Jay and Betty Savereid. She attended Amherst public schools and graduated from Amherst Regional High School in 1973. Lisa then completed a degree in Classics at the University of Kent at Canterbury, where she formed life-long friendships and a love of England.
Following college, Lisa served as Deputy Policy Director for Mayor Kevin H. White, followed by appointments at Price Waterhouse and the Beacon Companies. In 1994 she found her life-long professional calling as a founding partner in the recruitment firm of Isaacson, Miller where she remained for 30 years until her death. John Isaacson, Chair, expressed the company’s grief and admiration and described Lisa’s career as including hundreds of searches on behalf of major universities and institutions. In addition, Lisa helped to build the firm through her insightful and articulate internal policies, as well as her thoughtful and inspiring mentoring of young colleagues. Isaacson recalls Lisa as the “conscience of the firm” and continued “as we lean into our future, we will lean hard into her memory and live in her spirit.”
Outside of her demanding professional obligations, Lisa had a vibrant and vigorous personal life, the center of which was her husband Joseph Savage, whom she married in 1982, and their son Marco Savage (28) of Boston and daughter Anna Savage (19) of Tokyo, Japan. Other grieving survivors include her sister Erica Savereid of Pawling NY, brother Christopher Savereid of Jamaica Plain, MA, and his wife Anne, sister-in-law Marcia Martin of Ponte Vedra, FL, and her husband Bill. Lisa also leaves three nieces: Cory Satow, her husband Gary, and their children Mara and Miles; Stacy Hoffman and her husband Jon and their children Dillon and Ryan; and Susan Martin; and her nephew Jay Savereid and his partner Rachel Lindholm.
All of us will remember and take comfort in recalling Lisa’s wide and varied passions, including gardening, cooking, entertaining (Lisa and Joe hosted an annual holiday party for some 40 years), summers in Nova Scotia, and scuba diving in her beloved Harbour Island, Bahamas.
A celebration of Lisa’s life is planned for later this year.
In lieu of flowers, please make a memorial donation in Lisa's name to:
Turn It Around
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