A poet and a gentleman: Rest in Peace Eddie Sauvage Snr.

On Sunday December 14, Eddie Sauvage Snr sadly passed from this life. He will be fondly remembered as a dedicated husband and father, a lover of poetry and history and a true 'Top of the Town' man.

Eddie was born the third eldest out of 11 children, to parents Agnes and Davy Snr and was raised on Morrison's Avenue. 

In 1960, Eddie married his beloved Maudie and went on to have four sons (David, John, Edward and Warren) and three daughters (Lisa, Sandra and Vivienne). The couple were married for 62 years before Maudie's passing in 2022.

He worked at 'The Glass' and later came to own the very last piece of crystal sold on the Kilbarry plant. The piece was a feather with the date 'January 22, 2010' carved in by Nick Coady.

Waterford Childhood

In 2019, Eddie described his happy childhood to Ronan Morrissey, describing the 'harmless devilment' he got up to with his friends, riding their bikes on the Cork Road, pretending to be legendary horse riders. 

He told Ronan about bookmaker Davy Snr: "I’m probably the only one who didn’t go into the business and there’s a reason for that. My father would be at the racing in the day time and the dogs in the night time – how he had 11 children is beyond me! He was a marvellous man but I remember when he got home my mother would say to him ‘well Davy, how did you do?’ ‘Ah sure, I got skint’. If he had a winning night he’d say ‘ah sure I won a few coppers’."

Eddie spoke beautifully about growing up and travelling to England to see his older sister and the excitement of discovering new inventions years before they arrived in Waterford. He described it to Ronan: "I thought England was magic. The first time I saw orange street lights was in Chelmsford and I couldn’t believe it. I remember they came to Waterford a few years afterwards.

"People in Waterford at the time would say the saying ‘have you been over’, which meant England. If you had a coloured jersey or pullover people would know you had been in England. I suppose we had nothing in Waterford at the time. People were in their bare feet here."

Eddie went on to describe his education in Mount Sion and De La Salle: "I hated school. I had a fella, Nicky Chapman, alongside me in the college and he had wonderful writing. I had hopeless writing because when I was in Mount Sion I was left-handed and you weren’t supposed to be left-handed. 

"I used to get him to write letters to the Master on behalf of my mother, Edward is very sick and will not be in’ – I’d be out in Tramore on the strand worshipping the sun! A fella told on me and I was told if I did it once more I’d be expelled.”

Poet

Despite describing himself as being 'hopeless' at writing in school, in later years Eddie was highly praised for his poetry. He wrote his own book of poetry, 'People Poetry', dedicated to the many people in his life, from his co-worker Noel to his son Warren. He stated: "I loved putting the books together. People are my subject."

When news of Eddie's death came out, there was a flood of tributes and condolences which described him as 'one of life's true gentlemen."

Reading over his 2019 chat with Ronan, it's undeniable that Eddie had a life well lived: "I set a target for myself – if I have one faith, one wife and one job I’d be happy. And I achieved all that.”

Rest in peace

After his death, Eddie reposed at his home at St Anne’s, Rathfadden Villa’s.

Eddie was laid to rest after a Requiem Mass at Ballybricken Church on December 18, and was buried at St Otterans Cemetery, Ballinaneeshagh, Cork Road.

He was predeceased by his wife Maudie, mother Agnes, father Davy Snr, granddaughter Alex, great-granddaughter Poppy, sister Maura, brothers Davy, Tony and Bernard.

Eddie is greatly missed by his loving sons David, John, Edward and Warren, daughters Lisa, Sandra and Vivienne, daughters-in-law Susan, June, Gillian and Lisa, sons-in-law Noel and MJ, his 23 grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, extended family, relatives, neighbours and friends.