Brian Davies

Brian Davies, 71, of Anchorage, Alaska died Friday morning, June 8, after a year-long contest with cancer. Brian was the eldest child of Ritchie and Dorothy Davies of Wales and England. He grew up on his family's farm in north Herefordshire, England, close to the Welsh border hills.

After high school he attended Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with a degree in geology and was hired by British Petroleum. Brian worked on the BP discovery well in the North Sea and had two stints in Abu Dhabi. BP then sent him to Colorado School of Mines for courses in petroleum engineering and then for six months to Colombia. In 1971, he came to Alaska with BP.

He met his wife Sharon on May Day that year. They married in August and had forty-one wonderful years together. In 1977-79, they were co-chairmen of ski touring for Nordic Ski Club. This was a great experience, as they enjoyed all the fine and fun people they met on the tours and the incentive to get out and ski more.

In 1979, they were transferred to San Francisco where they lived for 5 and half years before returning to their home in Alaska. A year and a half later they were moved to Houston where Brian was asked to be on the board of the Houston Symphony. In 1990, they were happy to return to Anchorage and have called it home ever since.

Brian was on the board of the Anchorage Symphony for many years serving as treasurer and as president. He and Sharon have continued to be enthusiastic season ticket holders and members of the symphony's commissioning club, Musica Nova. In 1995, after a long and engaging career with BP, Brian retired and became more and more involved in community activities. He was a member of the board of Cook Inlet Historical Society until his death. He had been an active very involved member of the Alaska Nature Conservancy for many years, serving on its board and in other ways. Brian served as the chairperson of the building committee for the recent expansion of the Anchorage Museum. In this position he also served on related committees and commissions. He developed a deep commitment to the museum, and was serving on the Museum Foundation and the Museum Association Board at the time of his death. He also spent many years on the board of the Alaska World Affairs Council and worked on each of their World Quest events. The past two or more years he served on the advisory board of the UAA Honors College.

Brian worked as a consultant for ML& P for their share in the Cook Inlet Gas field. In recent years, as developments made the job more complex and time consuming, he chose to give it up, but reluctantly as he found it thoroughly engrossing.

For fun he and Sharon traveled yearly to England to visit family and for walking tours in various parts of the country. They traveled most years to Washington DC for the World Affairs Councils of America annual meeting, seminars and lectures, and had many enjoyable visits to New York for theater and museums. In 1994, he discovered a new winter activity when Joe Redington announced he was going to lead a supported mushing trip on the Iditarod Trail. They spent three weeks mushing to Nome (the same length of time the winners took in the first years of the race). Brian always said that was the greatest of his outdoor adventures. A few years later he arranged with mushing guide Jeannine Caithers of Whitehorse to mush the Yukon Quest trail. Sharon also enjoyed mushing. Although she wasn't strong enough for some of the trips he took, they enjoyed many mushing trips together. He was a life-long cycling enthusiast who did many multi-day bicycle tours and participated for several years as one of the top fund-raiser in Lung Association rides. He trekked four times in the Himalayas, and also did hiking trips in the Sierras and Alps.

He is survived by his wife Sharon Davies of Anchorage; his sister and brother-in-law Olwen and Dave Goodwin of Hook Norton, England; two nieces Emma Bliss and Megan Goodwin Patel in England and a nephew Thomas Goodwin, currently living in New York.

The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the organizations that Brian was involved with, which include the Anchorage Symphony, Nature Conservancy, UAA Honors College, Anchorage Museum, Cook Inlet Historical Society, and the Alaska World Affairs Council.

A Celebration of Brian's Life will be held at the Anchorage Museum on Friday June 15th, 2012. The program begins at 6 pm in the atrium with a reception to follow at 7 pm in the Brian Davies Chugach Gallery on the fourth floor.