William E. Davis

William E. Davis 1919 - 2007 Age 88, died peacefully on June 14th after 12 years of living with Alzheimer's. Bill was born in South Pasadena, May 3, 1919 to Frances and Aubrey Davis. After graduating from Occidental College, serving in the Navy in WW II and receiving a MBA from Stanford University, Bill and his first wife, Betty, moved to Berkeley in 1949 and never left. He had a long and distinguished career with Alameda County, retiring in 1979 as the assistant county administrator. In retirement Bill was able to devote more time to local politics, serving on the Berkeley Rent Control Board and overseeing the ASUC elections for the League of Women Voters. Throughout his life he enjoyed hiking, camping, backpacking, sailing, photography and gardening. With the encouragement of his second wife, Peggy Anne, Bill became a patron of the arts, an inveterate world traveler and speaker for the Alzheimer's Association. Bill was a man of wide interests and strong opinions, a true liberal who believed in the importance of public service and involvement in his community. He was a loving, generous and tolerant paterfamilias and a witty and gracious host equally at home sipping scotch by the campfire at Tenaya Lake or presiding over a well set table at Walnut Street, surrounded by family and friends. He was a man who embraced tradition - the annual 4th of July barbeque, the fall picnic at Shell Beach, camping in the summer at Tenaya Lake, the annual Christmas tree expedition- always the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And he was a man who needed a wife and was lucky to have married happily and well - twice. Bill was predeceased by his sister Dorothy (1967); his first wife Betty (1969); and his second wife Peggy Anne (2005). He is survived and much missed by brother Aubrey Davis; children, Claudia Berger (Michael), Andrew Davis (Margit), Laura Riggs, Sarah Davis (Lloyd Johnson); stepchildren, Bill Visher (Jackie Davis), Mary Visher (Trond Peterson), David Visher (Lorraine Nail); 13 grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and a group of good and longtime friends. The family would like to gratefully acknowledge the loving care given Bill in his last years by his daughter Laura and grandson Kyle with help from Jo Sanders, and Aster and Ruta Abraham. A Memorial Service will be held July 15th at 2pm at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley. Donations in Bill's memory may be made to Alzheimer's Services of the East Bay, 2320 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 or to The Yosemite Association at www.yosemite.org or Yosemite Association, PO Box 230, El Portal, CA 95318.