Allan Davis

DAVIS, ALLAN SATTERTHWAITE Age 87 of Strasburg, Virginia, formally of Crofton, passed away January 17, 2014 as a result of advanced-stage lung cancer. Throughout his life a deeply loved brother, husband, father, and friend, he is survived by a sister Barbara Branin of Miami, FL, two sons; Mark of Middletown, VA and Larry of Cave Creek, AZ, four grandchildren; Paul, Karen, Bridget, and Jessica Davis, and numerous additional extended family members and cherished friends. He was preceded in death by his wife Alice and daughter Linda, who both passed away in 2001. Allan was born in 1926, the son of Oscar W. and Alberta S. Davis, and spent his childhood in suburban Philadelphia. He served two years in the U.S. Army at the end of WWII as part of the occupational forces in post-war Japan. He returned home, starting out as a clerk at Sun Oil Company's Philadelphia office, where he met Alice Elizabeth Branin of Collingswood, NJ. They were married in 1949. Following their marriage the young couple moved to Worcester, MA where Allan earned a degree in geography from Clark University. After graduation the couple returned to the mid-atlantic region, and through the years raised their three children while residing in northern Virginia, New Jersey, and Maryland. In 2002 Allan moved to northwestern Virginia in order to be closer to the family of his son Mark. His professional career spanned six decades and included positions in economic development, mapping research, urban planning, and land use. In addition to his professional career, he also served for seven years as the elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Crofton Community District Authority in Anne Arundel County. In his final working years, he served as a Vice-President at Sanborn Map Company in Pelham, New York, from where he retired in 1996. As evidence of his long-standing interest in community planning, he has served on the Strasburg VA Planning Commission for the past several years, up to the time of his passing. While easily contented spending time alone with a good book, Allan maintained a lifelong zest for the lively company of friends and family. He actively maintained close friendships going back over 60 years to his college days. In earlier years, the Davis household was host to frequent and recurring social gatherings. Childhood memories long endure of neighborhood parties, with the sounds of laughter emanating from the basement late into the night, with much music, and dancing. He derived great pleasure from both exploratory travel to new locations and annual beach vacations with family and close friends. Even as he entered the final months of his life, he relished spirited and witty conversation, music, and good food and drink, and he never lost his passionate interest in history, current events, and American railroads. When a person you love who's been a fixture in your life for as long as you remember passes away, they leave a hole that over time you will accept, but that will never close. Allan, Dad, Granddad, dear friend, we will miss you. Always. In honor of Allan's wishes, no services are planned. Memorial contributions in his name may be made to the American Cancer Society.