Peter J. Savord, a minister whose priesthood evolved into fatherhood and advocacy of a special-needs child, died of a stroke Friday in Flower Hospital. He was 47.

He was born in Sandusky in August, 1955, and felt an early call to ministry, according to his brother, Bernard. He enjoyed churchgoing and visits to the family home from Catholic missionaries. His childhood ambition to build a pipe organ in the basement finally yielded a hand-built clavichord.

“Nothing was impossible to him,” his brother said. “He took life as an adventure, and he was infectiously optimistic.”

In high school he became involved in youth ministry, an interest that “just naturally led him into his vocation as a priest,” his brother said. He earned a philosophy degree at the Pontifical Josephenium Seminary in Columbus, and a master's in theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati. He was ordained a diocesan priest at Rosary Cathedral in 1982, and served as associate pastor at St. Joseph Church, Sylvania, the largest congregation in the Toledo Catholic Diocese.

Sharon Ahlfors, a youth minister at St. Joseph, got to know Father Savord during his five years of service there. “He did all kinds of jobs: Mass, sick visits, organizing. He was very caring, intelligent, gentle, and well-liked. We remember him as `the gentle soul,'” she said.

Mr. Savord left the priesthood in 1987 and survived a crisis of identity and employment, his brother said. He spent a period living alone in a mobile home on a tract of farmland he'd bought south of Toledo. He worked at a highway rest stop, handing out brochures; work that eventually led to a job inspecting pavement for the state transportation department.

But he was in love and knew he could not raise a family on his pay, his brother said. So he went back to school at Northwestern University, and earned certifications as an orthotics and prosthetics technician. He took a job at Hanger, Inc., a Toledo facility that forms limbs and appliances for orthopedic patients.

He married Kathy Gallagher on Aug. 19, 1989, and embarked on his second career, his brother said: He became a family man.

The pair soon adopted Mary Pat, and eight years ago adopted Matthew, a special-needs child with severe bipolar syndrome and numerous neurological disorders.

“Caring for Matthew is all-consuming,” Bernard Savord said. “It was constant. Medicines, behavioral control, seizures, service providers. That, and trying to keep the family together. But his family was his fun. He still managed. He still had a grand plan for everything. I never saw it get him down, even as his life was consumed with helping his son.”

Mr. Savord told The Blade in a July interview: “The family is important, all members, including Matthew. He's part of who we are. The picture would have a big hole in it if he weren't in it.”

He enjoyed playing piano duets with his daughter, Mr. Savord said, and dreamed of starting a business called “A Mother's Touch,” cast-resin sculptures of mothers holding their children's hands. He served on the Toledo Public Schools district advisory board, a group formed a year ago to advise police on how to deal with mentally ill students.

He continued to actively participate in church activities, his brother said, and enjoyed annual visits to a cabin in the Wyoming Tetons.

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Savord is survived by his parents, Joseph and Lillian Savord; sister, Mary Geshay, and brothers, Gregory, David, Tim, and Bernard.

Visitation is from 2 to 9 p.m. today at Coyle Funeral Home, with a Scripture service at 7 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. The family suggests tributes to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill or to Sunshine Children's Home.

First Published January 20, 2003, 5:00 a.m.