Robert Howard Davis

Born August 4, 1942, went home to the Lord on February 17, 2024. Robert was a loving husband to Angela, caring father to Stephen (Dina) and Valerie (Gavin), and devoted grandfather to Elise Rebecca and Joshua Jonah. He is survived by brother Rick Swift. Born in the Adirondacks of NY, he most recently lived in Fairport, NY.
Bob was brilliant, wherever his mind took him. Starting from his grandfather's garage in Chazy Lake, he had a gift for figuring out things. In his career, he pioneered curriculum development approaches for radiologic technology programs, including diagnostic sonography and echocardiography. He was an inspiring teacher at Hudson Valley Community College, leading others to appreciate the intricacies of imaging in both academic and clinical settings. His love of discovery and ability to visualize how processes could be made better lead to him being a sought-after consultant for health departments, colleges, hospitals, and the American Medical Association.
At the same time, Bob loved music. Not just music for its own sake but music as art. He had a theory he called "Tecture." Basically, he thought about how listeners derived meaning from what they heard, and concluded that being able to understand the language that a song might be sung in was not as important as the power and intonation of how the song was sung, along with the instrumentation. He loved adding to his knowledge of music by designing a YouTube channel under the name of ProfDavis. Not only did his 15,000 subscribers benefit from the research he did to explain the background of the songs he would feature, he would make videos for his family and others that touched his life based on what he learned those listeners special to him would love to hear.
Dad had a cheeky sense of humor that stayed with him his whole life. He never saw himself as a warrior, but he really was. Despite heart attacks, strokes, Bell's palsy, and the challenges facing him because of diabetes and reduced mobility, he kept wanting to learn, create, and bring people to loving sounds they never knew existed. His love of sound and theory of Tecture motivated him to start learning French and Italian in his late 70s, just to gain insight into how much language in music mattered. He found neat things to listen to, watch, or use on the internet often years before they became mainstream.
We asked him how he would like to be remembered. His reply was that he was at the right place, at the right time, and it was God's will that he was doing what he was doing.
Thanks for your lessons in perseverance, Dad, and your deep love of learning and trying new things.
Rest in peace, Professor.