Glenn A. Davis, P.E.

The good angels came for Glenn Alan Davis of Wilmington, North Carolina, as he died peacefully in his sleep at home on Saturday morning, June 19, 2021. Glenn was born March 3, 1950 at the historic Babies Hospital on the sound across from Wrightsville Beach. His parents were Billy L. and Evelyn (née Potter) Davis, who, from the late 1980s until their passing in 2006 and 2008 respectively, were better known in the Wilmington area as Santa and Mrs. Claus. While his parents were not football fans, they named their second son Glenn after the 1946 Heisman Trophy winner and 1946 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, Glenn Woodward Davis (1924-2005), who played for the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1943 to 1946 before joining the Los Angeles Rams as a pro for the 1950 season. A tie with Wilmington’s Glenn Davis to another Heisman Trophy winner will be presented here shortly.

During his formative years, Tarheel State Glenn Davis lived with his family on a 5.5-acre farmette in rural Castle Hayne. Glenn always considered this rustic and charming green space in New Hanover County an idyllic place to grow up, and he often shared stories about the good times he enjoyed there. Along with a big vegetable garden, the Davises had horses, chickens, a cow, pigs, cats and a dog. Glenn attended Wrightsboro Elementary School, where his standout intellectual brightness resulted in him being promoted to the third grade soon after he started second grade. He went on to Roland Grise Junior High School and New Hanover High School, graduating from the latter in 1967. His high school extracurricular activities included the Chess Club and the coveted position of drum major for the Junior Army ROTC marching band during his senior year. Since leaving his days as a student New Hanover Wildcat behind, Glenn has been a loyal and enthusiastic alum attendee at every gala class reunion.

Glenn attributed many of his life lessons learned to his first job at the former Parker’s Food Store in Wrightsboro, where, as a teenager, he bagged groceries and worked in the produce department after school and on weekends. Most notably, he became skillful at tossing and catching cabbages with the best of them, as the work frequently demanded. 

As the first member of his family to complete a baccalaureate degree, Glenn proudly graduated from North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1971. At State he was a member of the men’s glee club and he joined Theta Tau professional engineering fraternity. In May of his senior year, he received commendation from the East North Carolina Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for the distinction of being “a first place winner in the Senior Design Project Competition at North Carolina State University.” The actual award, now framed with the congratulatory letter, was a tie pin featuring the NCSU seal and red jewel stone.

During college, the very patriotic Glenn continued his Army ROTC participation, and after graduation he completed basic training at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. With the ending of the Vietnam War, he was honorably discharged before being assigned any tour of duty.  

In February 1976 Glenn completed the rigorous work experience and testing requirements for licensing as a North Carolina Professional Engineer. He worked for several private firms during his career, but maintained his own consulting engineering business during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. With a focus on civil and structural aspects of engineering, his typically diverse work portfolio from early career to recent years included municipal water and sewer system design and construction management, diagnosis of building failure causes and formulation of subsequent corrective measures, and expert witness assignments, just to name a few of many, many examples.

Showcasing his gift as a public speaker, Glenn could and often would regale any audience for hours with the captivating stories about nightmare homes he had inspected over the years. Imagine, for example, standing outside a synthetic stucco home and easily and painlessly punching your fist through the exterior coating and insulation right into the living room. Confident he could do better work than many contractors, the irrepressible Glenn also embraced hands-on leadership for home remodeling projects for several local homeowners.   

Throughout all of these professional endeavors, Glenn was most proud of always maintaining his personal ethics, honesty, self-respect, trustworthiness, transparency and empathy for innocents being taken advantage of, all of which resulted in him forming strong and lasting friendships with many of his clients and associates.

Tapping into his years of practical experience dealing with commercial and residential design and construction issues, from the fall of 2005 through 2015 Glenn taught in the architectural technology program on the North Campus of Cape Fear Community College, serving as lead instructor during his last several years there. He treasured the opportunity afforded him by that role to mentor his students, and he kept in touch with a number of them from when they left school until he died.

Along with engineering, which he loved so much, Glenn had numerous professional and personal interests, enviable skills and remarkable talents.

Music arguably tops that list.

Glenn joined the Piano Technicians Guild in 1980, achieving the Guild’s prestigious Registered Piano Technician (RPT) certification that year by passing one written exam and two hands-on technical exams. As the only local RPT, Glenn tuned, repaired and restored a plethora of pianos in the Cape Fear region over the years.

For more than 20 years he also operated a band instrument repair service alongside his engineering and piano tuning businesses. And speaking of musical instruments, Glenn played several extremely well, including piano, keyboard, organ, saxophone, clarinet and guitar.

He was especially fond of the big band sound of the 1940s, and he participated in and/or organized and directed several local big band groups that performed the classic hits of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and other icons of the era for special events during the 1970s, 80s and 90s. “In the Mood,” “A String of Pearls,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “Opus One,” "Stompin’ at the Savoy,” you name it, our Glenn played it with pizzaz. He often did his own musical arrangements of these still popular songs himself. Sporting the stage name “Glenny D,” he was also an afficionado and solo performer of the popular music of the 1950s and 60s, especially beach music.  

Glenn traced his love of music to his childhood roots as a member of Wrightsboro Baptist Church, where he learned and never forgot all the verses to so many traditional and time-honored  Baptist hymns, like “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” one of his favorites. As a young adult he was a member of a small gospel singing group, the Shore-Lites, that recorded a vinyl album, and he participated in several local church choirs, including at Calvary Baptist Church and Oak Grove Baptist Church, where he served as choir director for a time.   

Starting in early adulthood, Glenn came to know and love snow skiing in the majestic North Carolina mountains, white water rafting and canoeing in winding North Carolina rivers, and flying through beautiful Carolina blue skies piloting the Cessna airplane he co-owned during the early 1980s. While not an avid world traveler, he did make it to Peru twice, where he toured the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, the iconic 15th century Incan citadel situated 7,972 feet above sea level. In stark comparison, the elevation of Wilmington, NC is a mere 36 feet.

In recent years Glenn seriously considered taking up hot air ballooning as a long-term hobby, even researching industrial sewing machines on the Internet and having balloon fabric samples sent to his house. But he quickly changed his mind after his first balloon ride, in southern Illinois on June 16, 2007, ended with an unforgettable hard crash in a corn field, which, fortunately, all four souls on board survived.

So, wisely foregoing any future ballooning activities, after his crash bruises healed Glenn more sensibly revisited a major enjoyment of his teenage years by purchasing not one, but two Honda motorcycles. He considered it an honor to participate for several years in the Patriot Guard Riders, a group that rides with American flags to pay homage to local military veterans during their funerals. Glenn also rode with the Guard during the Southport 4th of July parade a couple times. And, come Christmas, he was an eager participant in Wilmington’s annual Toys for Tots charity ride.  

A few years ago, Glenn received a radio-controlled airplane for Christmas, so, in spirited pursuit of a challenging new hobby, the former pilot eventually joined the Topsail Electric Flyers Association. Over several years he spent many enjoyable Sunday mornings at the club’s airfield north of town, flying his classic red and white Taylorcraft 450 ARF with fellow radio-controlled enthusiasts.      

Art was another lifelong passion and outstanding talent of Glenn’s. In recent years, sans beret, he pursued art with a real joie de vivre, including water color painting, but most especially colored pencil drawing. Prior to the perils of COVID-19, he taught colored pencil drawing classes at several local venues, including Cameron Art Museum and the Leland Cultural Arts Center. Folks have frequently marveled that, at first glance, his works surely were photographs because they looked so realistic. Glenn excelled at creating portraits of humans and animals, as well as pictures of flowers, fruits and vegetables, scenery and inanimate household objects.

He was most proud of his drawing of his parents dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus, as well as his drawing of the late Molly, the long-time beloved resident male cat at/outside Blue Water Grill, where Wilmington East Rotary Club meets when pandemics don’t preclude gathering. In 2017, Glenn, Molly and Glenn’s Molly picture were featured in Colored Pencil magazine. Another of his favorite works is the portrait he did of his esteemed Rotarian friend and mentor, Bob Breton. Not really kidding, Glenn would often refer to his drawing of his idol, the globally acclaimed incomparable genius Albert Einstein, as his self-portrait, even though Einstein wasn’t characteristically bald.

Glenn was a member of the aforementioned Rotary club starting February 1, 1978. He served as club president during 1999-2000 and completed multiple terms on the Board of Directors. He was an assistant district governor for District 7730 after his club presidency. The most joyful Rotary highlight for Glenn during his 43 years of membership was capturing First Place honors in the special singing contest created just for the District Conference held in in Jacksonville, NC during the spring of 1997. Glenn composed an original song called “I’d like to be a Paul Harris Fellow” and was awarded what he sang for, a prestigious Paul Harris Fellow medal and certificate, in response to his highly acclaimed and generously applauded efforts. Making the required contribution to the Rotary Foundation to become a Paul Harris Fellow was a bit out of Glenn’s budget back then, so having an unexpected golden opportunity to achieve that long time goal with his musical talent meant so much to him, especially after so many years of feeling somewhat inferior to his peers who had no trouble speedily financing the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow distinction for themselves.

Another fond memory for Glenn was when he got to help behind the scenes to decorate Rotary International’s award-winning float for the 2000 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. That, before watching the completed float progress through the parade route on January 1 from a plum viewing stand. Titled “Readers are Winners,” the float used the fable of the tortoise and the hare to depict the studious tortoise winning the race with his basket of books, while the laid-back rabbit listened to his Walkman. That stunning 2000 Rotary float captured the Tournament of Roses’ Isabella Coleman Trophy for best presentation of color and color harmony.

To cap off the 2000 Rose Bowl festivities in a monumental way while ringing in the start of the new millennium, Glenn and his wife Linda were on hand in the stadium to watch the University of Wisconsin Badgers beat the Stanford University Cardinal in the Rose Bowl Game that year, 17-9. Representing Linda’s alma mater well, the Badgers’ 1999 Heisman Trophy winner, running back Ron Dayne, was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the game, just as he had been named MVP of the 1999 Rose Bowl Game when the Badgers beat the UCLA Bruins, 38-31.

Here’s one additional tidbit of Wilmington East Rotary lore associated with Glenn. Members still talk about the regular Monday night club meeting a number of years ago during which Glenn razzled and dazzled all those in attendance when he stood up and, without hesitation, correctly recited out loud from memory in the total absence of any notes the phone numbers of each and every member. No one else in the club has apparently attempted this remarkable feat since then.

For this voracious reader and life-long learner, Glenn’s most prized material possession was his book collection, which includes hundreds of titles, almost exclusively non-fiction. Constantly driven to hone new skills, Glenn was perfecting his Microsoft Excel programing capabilities at the time of his death, and, sadly, related subject matter books he recently ordered were delivered to his home after he died. Several potential clients recently referred to Glenn by his online Excel instructor are disappointed that Glenn won’t be able to complete the projects he was proposing for them in the days just before he died.

On June 17, 1990, Glenn married Linda Leake in Madison, Wisconsin, her home state. They have made their home together in Wilmington since then. Along with Linda, Glenn is survived by his older (by one year and one day) brother Billy L. Davis, Jr. (Donna) of Garner, NC, his sisters Paula Jones (née Davis) and Rose Davis, both of Castle Hayne, his nephew Staff Sergeant Timothy Davis stationed at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas and Timothy’s daughter Ayla, his nephew Russell Davis of Berthold, North Dakota, his cousin Beth Hughes (née Bowen) (Dick) of Wilmington, and countless friends, both those Glenn knew personally and those he met on Facebook, where he was a frequent and enthusiastic participant. 

In addition to his parents, preceding Glenn in death were his Aunt Margie (née Davis) and Uncle Fib Bowen, his paternal grandparents Spurby and Pauline Davis, his maternal grandparents Thad and Rosa Potter, and his brother-in-law Steve Jones.

As a connoisseur of traditional Southern home cooking, Glenn never stopped reminiscing about all the delicious meals his beloved mother, Aunt Margie and Grandma Potter lovingly and cheerfully prepared over the years until the good angels came for them and they got their own well-deserved angel wings. One wonders which of Glenn’s favorite dishes these three cherished matriarchs might have already made for him since he arrived in heaven. Whatever has been on the menu, we can be certain it was washed down with ice cold sweet tea.

If you have seen the 1990 Academy Award-winning movie Ghost you no doubt understand the “good angels” shout-out, which references the story’s events as potter Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) says a final goodbye to the then visible spirit of her murdered banker boyfriend Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) as the good angels came for him, while their psychic friend Oda Mae Brown (Whoopie Goldberg, who won the 1991 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in that film) looks on. As Sam is escorted to heaven by the angels via a beckoning tunnel of stunning white lights, Molly understands that Sam is going to be OK. This gives the viewer a comforting sense that Molly is at peace with her loss and she will be OK, too. Of note, Ghost coincidentally showcases what was Glenn and Linda’s favorite song to slow dance to, “Unchained Melody,” the Righteous Brothers iconic 1965 release.

Glenn was a great lover of cats, and several precious and beloved female feline family members of him and Linda preceded him in death, including Muffin, Kristi, Cody, Nancy and Jersey, all of whom were likely at heaven’s gate to exuberantly greet and welcome Glenn when he arrived at his eternal home.

No memorial services are planned on this side of the pearly gates at the present time.

Andrews Mortuary is handling cremation arrangements.

Sincere, heartfelt thanks are extended by his widow to all who supported, respected, appreciated, admired, befriended and/or loved Glenn Davis during his precious time on this earth, which seems so short now. Rest assured and take comfort in knowing that Glenn died feeling he had led a very full and satisfying life in the community, county, and state he loved so much. He was very proud of all his capabilities and accomplishments, and even prouder that none of them focused on material or monetary considerations. All of this he stated out loud on more than one occasion.

Anyone wishing to pay tribute to Glenn’s life and memory is recommended to consider donations in his honor to the Good Shepherd Center, Wilmington, NC, Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, or the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.    

Going forward, Glenn would surely want everyone he knew and didn’t know, in dealing with and hopefully strengthening all of their personal and professional relationships, to consider and embrace the inspiring Rotary International “Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do.” With this test, one asks these important questions: “1.) Is it the truth? 2.) Is it fair to all concerned? 3.) Will it build good will and better friendships? 4.) Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

Lamentably, we must now say goodbye to a very special person who graced our lives for far too brief a time. With a bit of faith, he will live on in our hearts and memories at least until stars no longer shine in the sky. The Anglo-Irish hymnwriter and poet Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) offers some thoughts that set the scene for building a most appropriate bridge to a comforting conclusion:

“All things bright and beautiful,
 All creatures great and small,
 All things wise and wonderful,
 The Lord God made them all.”

Without a doubt, this includes the peerless Glenn Alan Davis.

Rest in peace, dear Glenn, precious Pumpkin.