Herbert Sidney ""Sonny"" Davis PhD

Herbert "Sonny" Sidney Davis, Ph.D., of San Francisco, California, born on November 18, 1936 in Boston, Massachusetts, to the late Alice Rosenblum Davis and David Edward Davis, passed away at age 81 on September 17, 2018 in Menlo Park, California. He was preceded in death by his sister, Lee Davis. Herbert was the beloved husband of Donne Davis, loving father of Deborah Allison Davis and Mark Jeffrey Davis, and devoted "Zayde" (grandfather) of Juliet Davis Porter, Amelia Davis Porter, and Sophia Davis. Herbert is also survived by his mother-in-law, Juliet Mills, his son-in-law, Matthew Porter and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Aric and Joan Mills. Herbert earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California Berkeley and was a member of Kappa Nu Fraternity and the Cal Boxing team. He earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado Boulder. He did post-doctural research at the Institut du Radium in Paris, France. He worked as a physicist on space missions to Jupiter, Saturn and Mars at Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory until retiring in 1987. He returned to the San Francisco Bay Area for a second career as a Technical Writer at Applied Biosystems Inc. until retiring in 2001. He was a gifted artist and enjoyed plein air painting and also channeled his wit into humorous cartoons. He was a patient and empathic listener during his two years as a volunteer grief counselor at Kara Grief Support in Palo Alto, California. He published two books: a collection of cartoons, "Off Center" and an autobiography, "My Life, My Values." The family invites donations in Herbert's name to Donate Life California. A memorial service on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at 11 a.m. will be held at Home of Peace Cemetery, 1299 El Camino Real, Colma, CA.