William H. Davison

1932 - 2020

William Harris Davison, 87, died Wednesday April 15, 2020 at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

He was born in the family homestead in Hanover, N.H. in 1932 the son of Frank Foster and Jayne (Muiry) Davison and had lived in Hanover and New York prior to moving to Madbury in 1957 and then to Durham in 1960.

Mr. Davison attended the Hanover schools and was active in the Athletic Club in high school. He attended Kimball Union Academy (K.U.A) for one year and has been an active alumni ever since, recruiting outstanding athletic and academic students. After K.U.A., Mr. Davison attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He was an active member of Sigma Pi Fraternity and in 1955, he graduated after majoring in Sociology and Criminology.

He was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army in 1955 and served until 1957. He completed the officer's course for Military Police at Fort Gordon, Georgia and the same year was assigned to Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, N.Y. as the Executive Officer as Post M.P.S. At. Ft. Hamilton, he was active in sports and was Captain of the M.P. Pistol team and was an expert at Small Bore and M.I. Rifle. He placed 2nd in overall Pistol and Rifle Competition. At age 23, he was the youngest Provost Marshal on actual duty in the Army in Ft. Hamilton, Brooklyn, N.Y. He was offered a regular Army commission to return to the service, which he declined.

While in Hanover, Mr. Davison opened The Village Green Restaurant in 1966 which today is known as Murphy's on the Green Restaurant. He opened The Last Call Pub, which was recently known as 5 Olde Nugget Alley Restaurant. He was the original owner of both of these restaurants.

Mr. Davison is the current owner, which he has been for over 40 years, of the Davison Block and Annex in Hanover. He was the grandson of Frank Webster Davison who was the president of Dartmouth Savings Bank for more than 25 years and was the son of Frank F. Davison who, along with his father, Frank Webster Davison, built the original Nugget Movie Theater in Hanover. In 1923, his grandfather and father built and opened the Franklin Movie Theater in Durham, which Mr. Davison owned for more than 20 years while living in Durham. The theater showed the finest foreign and domestic films in the area. During the Franklin Theater early years, Bill, in cooperation with the University of New Hampshire, would show special films requested by various departments for their students. He enjoyed the challenge of being an educator in the Durham community as well as those communities that appreciated his dedication to show only the finest.

He was a long time member of the Federated Business Bureau. He was the founder, past president, and active member of the Durham Business Association which endeavored to work closely with the University to avoid any conflicts and resolve any problems the community and business people may have.

Members of his family his son, William H. Davison Jr. and wife Sonja, of Suffield, CT; two daughters, Jayne Davison Smith and husband Ed of Sherrill, NY and Judith Davison Parks and husband Mike of New Boston, NH; 4 grandchildren, Clinton Smith and wife Emma; Calie Smith, Kaitlyn Parks, and Shane Parks; two great grandchildren, Reagan Smith and Weston Smith; one sister, Gardena Davison Paquette of Barton, VT; and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 62 years Janet (Brooks) Davison and his sister Deborah Davison Gallop.

Due to the current COVID-19 Pandemic, a private funeral will be held at the convenience of the family. A celebration of William's life and a memorial service will be held at a later date and time to be announced.

Please go to www.taskerfh.comwww.taskerfh.com for more information or to sign the on-line guest book.