Obituary of William Bill Davis

WILLIAM “BILL” HOWARD DAVIS, 88, passed away peacefully on January 10, 2011, at Birch Bay Village in Bar Harbor, Maine. Bill was born on April 5, 1922, in Brockville, Ontario, Canada, the son of Owen and Pearl (Winters) Davis. He lived in Canada until 1929, when he and his parents moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where his father worked for General Motors. He returned to Canada to attend school in 1936 and graduated from Brockville Collegiate Institute in 1941. He graduated from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, earning a bachelor of science degree with honors in physics in 1945 and a master of science degree in physics in 1946. He was awarded his Ph.D. in physics from Brown University in 1948. Bill worked as an assistant professor of physics at the University of Buffalo from 1948 to 1954. Most of his career was at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, where he was a professor and served as head of the physics department. He retired in 1983. In 1948, he married his favorite redhead, Glenna Klyne. They had a long, loving marriage, raising two daughters, traveling, and enjoying their grandchildren. They retired in 1983 to Somesville, Maine, and became US citizens in 1984. They moved to Birch Bay Village in Bar Harbor in 2005. Bill enjoyed traveling with his parents across the Atlantic Ocean and in pre-war Europe, boating and canoeing with his father on the St. Lawrence River, and teaching and explaining physics. He read voraciously (especially science and fiction) and played and sang music every day. He also enjoyed photographing nature and his grandchildren, traveling to National Parks with Glenna, and hiking and kayaking in Acadia. Bill is survived by Glenna, his wife of 62 years; his daughters, Nancy Ferrer and husband Richard of New Jersey, and Judith Davis of Otter Creek, Maine; his grandchildren William and Robert Davis, Amy and Emily Ferrer, Jennifer Underdown, and Lloyd G. Roberts; and his great-grandson, Samuel Underdown. Bill’s family would like to express their appreciation for the loving care he received at Birch Bay Village. Those who wish may make memorial contributions in his memory to the Alzheimer’s Association, Marietta College, or the World Wildlife Fund. On-line condolences may be offered to the family at www.directcremationofmaine.com. Arrangements under the care of Direct Cremation of Maine, Belfast.