Norfolk Academy mourns the passing of Toy Savage ’71, a lifelong Bulldog and a teacher-coach at his alma mater for 37 years, NA announced via a statement shared on Facebook on Friday, December 5, 2024.
Toy’s cause of death was not immediately mentioned.
From 1986 until 2023, Toy served in an array of roles, including as a Middle School Ancient History Teacher, Upper School History and Political Science Teacher, Head of the Upper School, Honor Council Advisor, softball and golf coach, home football game announcer, school historian, and author of NA’s history “Norfolk’s Academy: The Heart of Tidewater” and The Savage Chronicles, a blog connecting the school’s past to its present.
After graduating from Norfolk Academy, Toy attended Princeton University and UVA, where he earned a JD law degree. He taught for a few years at the Gilman School and worked at a law firm in Baltimore before moving back to Norfolk to join his father at Willcox & Savage. It was then that the teaching spark emerged again and he returned home to the Academy. Through his service at NA, he built meaningful relationships with fellow teachers and administrators and touched the lives of thousands of students. To be a teacher was his deepest calling and its impact his greatest pride.
Toy’s personal connection to our school spanned seven decades, and it extended to his family tree: His great-great grandfather Robert Gatewood was NA’s head from 1865-88. A memorial gathering of celebration will be held at 4 p.m. on December 14 in Samuel C. Johnson Theater at Norfolk Academy.
