Kenneth S. Safe
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death June 22, 2003 of Honorary Trustee and Honorary Member Kenneth S. “Mike” Safe, Jr. of Duxbury, MA. He was 73.
Mike Safe was elected a Member of the Corporation in 1973 and a Trustee in 1974, serving in both capacities until 1981. He was Assistant Treasurer of the Corporation from 1977 to 1981 and served as Treasurer from 1981 to 1992; during his term as Treasurer he served as ex officio Member of the Corporation and Trustee. He was elected an Honorary Member and Honorary Trustee in 2000. Mike also served as a member of numerous WHOI committees through the years, including the Ships, Development, Nominating, Investment and Finance committees. At the time of his death he was a member of the Finance & Budget Committee and Ships Committee. He and his wife Betsy joined the Associates Program in 1973 and remained active in Institution events.
Kenneth Shaw Safe, Jr. was born in 1929 and graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in 1951. He was a special agent with the US Army Counterintelligence Corps from 1952 to 1954 during the Korean War, and from 1954 to 1956 served as an Intelligence Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency.
He had been affiliated with the Boston investment advisory firm Welch & Forbes since 1968, most recently serving as a managing partner of the firm. Prior to joining Welch & Forbes he was employed by Old Colony Trust Company and Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day, investment bankers in Boston.
Mike Safe was involved with numerous civic and business organizations, serving as a trustee of the Georgiana Goddard Eaton Memorial Fund, the Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation, Plimoth Plantation, and Partridge Academy. He was a director of Community Workshops, Inc., Boston Port & Seamen’s Aid Society, and the Beverly Land Company. He was treasurer of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and a member of the Rhode Island Hospital Corporation and the Boston Security Analysts Society, Inc. He was listed in Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who in Finance & Industry, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” (Kelley) Safe of Duxbury; a son, Thorn King Shaw Safe of Marshfield, MA; three daughters, Hope Shaw Safe Nuland of Duxbury, Elizabeth Shaw Safe Bitting of New Canaan, CT, and Edith Shaw Safe Devnew of Duxbury; two sisters, Edith Shaw Safe Loebs of Middletown, RI and Louise Safe Mauran of Providence, RI; and 11 grandchildren. He was also the father of the late Kenneth (Mikie) Shaw Safe III.
A memorial service was held June 25 at the family home in Duxbury. Memorial donations may be made to Duxbury Bay Maritime School, P.O. Box 263A, Duxbury, MA 02331 or Plimoth Plantation, P.O. Box 1620, Plymouth, MA 02362.