Obituary of Charles Michael Sauvage

Charles M. "Chuck" Sauvage Charles M. “Chuck” Sauvage, 71, passed away Monday, November 26, 2007, at Mother Joseph Care Center in Olympia after a long battle with Lewy Body disease. Born in Columbus, Ohio to Charles and Mary Isabel Sauvage on April 22, 1936, Chuck graduated from Linden McKinley High School. After high school, he attended Otterbein College and then volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After his military service, Chuck returned to Ohio and attended Ohio State University where he was a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes Football team under Woody Hayes. He graduated in 1960 with a double major in Political Science and Sino-Soviet Relations. He then hitchhiked across the U.S. to California where he landed a teaching job at Oakland Technical High School. While in California, Chuck attended Hastings School of Law and San Francisco School of Law. He coached football at Oakland Technical H.S. while living in Berkeley. Chuck served as Director in Residence of Project Upward Bound at Chico State College. He then served as Acting Regional Director for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity in Hawaii, Micronesia, and Alaska and several U.S. Protectorates. While serving as Regional Administrator for Vista in Region X, Chuck developed job-related training and support for VISTA volunteers, Foster Grandparents, ACE and SCORE. He placed and monitored “University Year for ACTION” AT Eastern Washington University and Western Washington University. In 1974, he took a position as the first and only Executive Director of Washington State Common Cause, a non-profit, non-partisan citizens’ lobby on behalf of 10,000+ members in the state working for open and accountable government. During his 27+ years in this capacity, he helped write and lobby to passage: the Open Meetings Act, the Sunset Law, the Public Disclosure Commission and campaign finance reform. The Associated Press voted him on the top ten lobbyists in Washington State. Chuck loved the privilege of working with government making positive changes on behalf of Washington citizens. Over the years, Chuck worked closely with the Press, Legislators and seven governors. Chuck also served on the Seattle 2000 Commission and was Vice Chair of “CECC”, Choosing a More Effective City Council. Chuck also lobbied for United Way in Tacoma and for Physicians for Social Responsibility to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons build-up in the U.S. and abroad. More recently he served as a volunteer speaker for the World Affairs Council meeting several times a year with young, rising world leaders sharing with them the workings of our democracy and particularly our model Public Disclosure Commission. Chuck never met a stranger. He loved the stories of each person and could stand and share stories with a person he had just met on the street. He was a true “advocate for the people” throughout the state, especially the poor and underserved. He took great personal pride in this aspect of his life. Chuck was always a gardener and he and his wife, Lois, grew and sold flowers at the Olympia Farmers Market in 1979-81. He enjoyed bringing bouquets to the staff at the Legislature during the interim. Most of all, Chuck was a devoted husband and father. A hunter from Alaska to Idaho and a man who loved to take his horses in the mountains as well as backpacking in many wilderness areas, he found being with his family was the most satisfying of all. Chuck is survived by his wife, Lois, of 25 years and his son Wyatt. He is also survived by his older brother, Edward P. Sauvage and sister, Becky Moretti, both of Columbus, Ohio and numerous nieces and nephews.