William E. Davis ’51

Bill was born April 16, 1929, in Denver to Roblin 1907 and Margaret Davis, granddaughter of John Evans, Colorado’s second territorial governor.

Bill came to us from Phillips Andover Academy. At Princeton he was a sociology major and graduated magna cum laude. He roomed with Bob Brush and Pete Langham and belonged to Prospect Club. At home he was an active member of the Colorado Mountain Club. In 1959 he earned a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Denver and moved to Anchorage to teach at Alaska Methodist University. There he met Nancy Yaw, and they were married in 1962. After a brief period in Washington as a senior policy analyst he returned to Anchorage, where he became a member of the Cook Inlet Historical Society and was deeply engaged in volunteer work with his Episcopal church. In 2009 he and Nancy retired to Sitka.

Bill died Sept. 1, 2018. He is survived by Nancy and their children Caroline Goodwin, W. Scott ’89, Roblin, and five grandchildren. His brothers Roblin ’37 and David ’41, sister Margaret Hayden, granddaughter Josephine Goodwin, and cousin John C. Davis ’43 all predeceased him. Bill was bigger than life and a Westerner to his core. We were proud to know him.