GERALD ANDREW DAVIES

DAVIES, GERALD ANDREW, 52, formerly of Blacksburg, Va., and a resident of Providence, R.I., died April 27 of cancer at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket.

A native of New Jersey, Gerry was a 1980 journalism alumnus of Ohio Wesleyan University, and a longtime newspaperman. He was known for his generosity, intelligence, wit and courage.

He is survived by his wife, The Rev. Clare Fischer-Davies, and their two children, Andy, 20, and Mary, 18 -- to whom he was devoted, and with whom he shared his best and worst days. His father, Robert Davies, and three brothers, Rob, Glenn and Eric, all of New Jersey, also survive. His mother, Theresa is deceased.

Following the example of his favorite newspaper columnist, the late William Safire of the New York Times, Davies cultivated his 'own constituency of the infuriated' in and around Blacksburg through his weekly Roanoke Times column, in which he took on beauty pageants, sewer plans, elections and other local dramas.

In all, he worked at the Times from 1994 to 2005 and served as a copy editor, layout editor, business editor, metro editor and finally, editorial writer and columnist.

He previously worked at the Toledo Blade and the Detroit Free Press and, until cancer treatment forced him to stop work, was employed as communications director for the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers Association.

A proud Irish-American, Davies loved good whiskey and was fond of serenading his Roanoke Times coworkers and the customers of nearby businesses with his bagpipe playing on afternoon breaks from work.

Gerry also loved to work with his hands, and after acquiring a used table saw, once nearly cut his thumb in half -- a story he related in a column titled, 'I fought the saw, and the saw won.'

A Requiem Holy Eucharist for Gerry will be held Friday at 7 p.m. at St. Martin's in Providence. A funeral service and interment of his ashes are planned next month at Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley, 303 Church Street, Blacksburg, VA 24060 or, to Episcopal Relief and Development, P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058. Condolences may be left at monahandrabblesherman.com