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Chicago Bears superfan dies at 106, Coach Eberflus makes remarks
Don Savage was truly the superfan of superfans and had Chicago Bears season tickets since 1948.
CHICAGO - Not many people can say they've been a Chicago Bears season ticket-holder since the 1940s, in fact, the team says there's only one. He is a very special fan named Don Savage and he just passed away at the age of 106.
"My deepest sympathies to his family and friends," said Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach. "Don was the head usher at Queen of All Saints for 50 years. One of our most loyal Bears fans, so just a special shout out to him and his family."
Savage's daughters said Don was such a big Bears and Chicago sports fan, it wasn't uncommon for him to multitask.
"Sometimes he'd be watching the end of a Cubs game while he was watching the Bears game," said his eldest daughter, Ginny Warner. "We'd go to a wedding and he'd have his little radio."
When Savage wasn't redefining what it means to be a Bears superfan, he was a legend in another Chicago tradition: 16" Softball. He was inducted into the 16" Softball Hall of Fame in 2014 after taking the batting title in 1944 in one of the city's most competitive leagues, and is considered a pioneer of the game.
"From what I understand, he was a heck of a player into his 50s and 60s. He was still organizing teams into his 80s," said Chris Downes, who's on the Board of Directors for the Softball Hall of Fame. "This guy's will to live is second to none. I'm a better man because I knew this guy. I would always tell him: 'Don, when I grow up, I want to be like you.'"
Peggy Schumacher is Savage's youngest daughter.
"His positive attitude about life was what most people admired about him," she said.
Bears owner George McCaskey even issued a statement about Don Savage, calling his loyalty to the team "legendary."
Savage will be laid to rest Wednesday on the city's Northwest Side.