Joseph Davidson Jr.

1930 - 2012

Joseph Davidson, Jr., 82, died peacefully in his sleep on May 3, 2012, at his home in Oxnard.

Joe was born in Daleville, Ala., on April 16, 1930, the youngest of three children, to Joseph and Ila Mae Davidson. As a US veteran, he served in the US Air Force in Japan and fought in the Korean War. While working as a gas station attendant in the heart of Los Angeles in 1955, he met his future wife Irene and together they raised six children.

Eager to start and support a family, he began working for General Telephone (GTE) in 1956 as a teletype repairman and subsequently became a design engineer. They lived for many years in the San Fernando Valley before moving to Santa Barbara in 1977, and then to Camarillo in 1980. In 1984, Joe and Irene bought their first home in Oxnard, where he retired from GTE after 35 years of dedicated service in 1991.

During retirement he enjoyed training as a pilot, fresh-water and ocean fishing, and traveling around the country to visit his children and grandchildren.

Joe is survived by his sister, Merlie Grantham in Daleville, Ala.; daughter, Beverly Lowe of Oxnard; son, Michael and his wife Belinda of Bellevue, Neb.; son, John of Sacramento, Calif.; daughter, Paula and her husband Daniel Sumner of Big Lake, Alaska; son, Daniel and his wife Chris of Sanford, N.C.; daughter, Julia and her husband Craig Godwin of Eugene, Ore.; 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Joseph Davidson, Jr. was preceded in death by his wife, Irene, and his sister, Emma.