Davis Barr Clayson

Davis Barr Clayson PITTSFIELD Davis Barr Clayson, 72, of Naples, Fla., and Weston, retired investment counselor, hospital trustee, avid masters swimmer, and devoted family man, died peacefully at home on Sunday, June 22, after a courageous battle with cancer.Barr, as he was known to all, was born in Pittsfield, son of George P. Clayson Jr. and Anna M. Davis Clayson. He graduated from South Kent School in 1954 and from Brown University in 1958, where he was president of his senior class. He served two years with the Navy, first aboard the USS Antietam and then in New Haven, Conn., training at Yale with the Naval ROTC swim team for the 1960 Olympics and Pan American Games. After the Navy, he joined Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in Boston and in 1963, moved to Standish, Ayer, and McKay, later known as Standish, Ayer and Wood, an independent investment management firm. He became a managing director of SAW and was chairman of Standish International Management Co. when it was created in 1990. He was among the most senior leaders of SAW from the late 60's until his retirement in 2000. Throughout this time until the present, he was actively involved with the New England Baptist Hospital, first as a member of the corporation, and later as a trustee and an honorary trustee, as well as co-chairman of two capital campaigns for the hospital and was the inspiration behind the current campaign theme "Transforming Lives: The Baptist Way." He was also active in the formation of Pathways Health Network and later was a director of Care Group Inc. As an NCAA All American swimmer at Brown University, Barr developed a lifelong love of swimming. He was a member of the New England Masters Swim Club, serving as a director for many years. His many accomplishments included All American Masters Swimmer, Masters National Champion and three-time gold medalist at the World Masters Games in Edmonton, Canada, in 2005. Barr was a long-time member of the Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, as well as Bald Peak Country Club in New Hampshire and Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, where he had made his home in recent years. He was also a member of the Hamilton Trust in Boston, the oldest American Investment Club, founded in 1882. Recently he helped form the Panther Partners LLP, a similar investment club in Naples. He leaves his wife of 50 years, Pamela Farrington Clayson of Naples and Weston, the granddaughter of the late William G. and Peg Oliver of Pittsfield; his three children, Jennifer C. Rapp and her husband, Kent, of St Louis, Mo.; Davis B. Clayson and his wife, Jennifer S., of Weston, and Wendy C. Harris and her husband Stephen, of Wellesley; eight grandchildren; two brothers, George P. Clayson III of Newport, R.I., and Alan Clayson of Stamford, Vt., and two sisters, Nancy Anne Forster of Nantucket and Mary Kneisel of Westport, Conn. FUNERAL NOTICE: A memorial service will be held at The Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, 207 Washington St., Wellesley Hills on Thursday, June 26, at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be private.Funeral Arrangements are by the JOHN C. BRYANT FUNERAL HOME of Wayland. In lieu of flowers, the Clayson family has created the D. Barr Clayson '58 Memorial Fund to help support the new natatorium under construction at Brown University. Donations should specify the Clayson Memorial Fund and may be sent to Brown Univ., P.O. Box 1877, Providence, RI. 02912.