Dennis Vladimir Savitskij

Dennis Savitskij was a loving husband, proud father, and beloved friend, who passed away unexpectedly on May 18, 2024. Dennis is survived by his wife, Karen, his two sons, Nikolai and Anton, and his mother, Liudmila, and preceded in death by his sister Olga and father Vladimir. Those closest to Dennis knew that he considered himself one of the luckiest men on earth.

Dennis’s story started in Moscow, Russia, where he was born on April 30, 1975. He grew up in a modest urban apartment with his parents and his sister. Thanks to a family connection, Dennis was able to travel to the United States in 1993 to attend Greenville University in Illinois, where had a double-major in math and physics. The Greenville community treated him as their son and he considered them family as well. After graduation, he went on to get a Masters Degree in Physics at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

It was at SIUE that he met and fell in love with Karen Demsky, and the two married in 1998 after a year of dating. Dennis proclaimed his love to Karen continually, from that day to his last. In 2005, Dennis and Karen had their first son, Nikolai, and in 2008, they had their second son, Anton. Dennis treasured his family and marveled at their talents and personalities, as he would always grow a wide smile and beam with pride talking about them. His greatest pleasures were family dinners, when electronic devices and distractions were put aside to give air to the natural conversation that flows between parents and children who not only love each other, but truly like each other. A particular favorite was the Savitskij’s Friday night “blini” tradition, a dear memory Dennis had from his own youth that he brought to his new generation.

Dennis was ever-active in supporting his family’s ambitions and hobbies. He shared a love of computers, technology, and machinery with his sons, and together, they built things, fixed things, and learned things, from custom computers to used cars. He had also recently become one of the coaches for Anton’s mountain biking team. For Karen, Dennis was an innately helpful husband, driven to serve by a force as natural as gravity. He would do big things, like building the large garden where she grows ingredients for her famous family meals, and small things, too, like keeping batteries charged and soap dispensers filled. Around the house, he was known as the “dish fairy” because he’d stay up late to make sure everybody would wake up to a clean kitchen. Dennis also supported his mother back in Russia and kept in frequent contact, as the two were very close at heart.

In his work life, too, Dennis was just as hard working and productive. His first post-college job was working for a company called Computerized Medical Systems (CMS) in St. Louis, a technology company that designed high-tech software to optimize and personalize radiation therapy treatment for cancer patients. That began what was a 25-year career working in radiation therapy, where Dennis served as a technical leader for some of the leading companies in the industry, such as Philips, Sun Nuclear, Elekta, GE, and ViewRay. Dennis was always proud that his professional work helped improve the lives of cancer patients. And in his professional life, Dennis did more than make a difference; he also made a large fabric of friends who will remember him fondly and love him dearly.

In addition to his family and work, Dennis was passionate about fitness. Road cycling was his favorite sport, and outdoor running a close second. Over the decades, Dennis explored many thousands of miles on his custom-made road bike, from the rolling country roads of eastern Missouri, to the steamy flats of central Florida, to – by far his favorite – the challenging and beautiful glacial terrain of south-central Wisconsin. A perfect day for Dennis Savitskij was a long, hard bike ride followed by a frosty microbrew beer and a delicious meal with his family or friends. Dennis knew that the simple things were the most precious.

In 2018, after half his lifetime working as a professional in cancer treatments, Dennis himself started a battle with colorectal cancer. He endured multiple surgeries, radiation treatments, and chemotherapy. Through it all, he was stalwart, and he was strong. During these challenges, Dennis earned even more respect from his friends and colleagues, because he chose to live with openness, honesty, and endurance; the way Dennis managed his health struggles was not only admirable, but encouraging to others. Through it all, Dennis still considered himself one of the luckiest men on earth.

We will miss him, and we will never forget him.

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The family has requested instead of a memorial service that his friends and family post their shared memories and pictures with Dennis on this shared memory board so that his family can share in our collective memories. (https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/cTUBuGSp)