GENEVA UPCHURCH DAVIDSON

GENEVA UPCHURCH DAVIDSON Geneva Upchurch Davidson, 87, a strong community advocate in the Tri-Cities area for 38 years died Tuesday, September 18, 2018 in Sequoia Meadows Senior Care hospice near her home in Brush Prairie, WA. Her husband of 69 years, James M. Davidson III, a former scientist with Pacific Northwest and Los Alamos National Laboratories, and their three sons were by her side in her last hours. Geneva was a young bride, age 17, when she married her husband Jim August 28, 1949 in their home town of Carrizo Springs, Texas. Newly graduated from Texas State University in 1951, they travelled some two thousand miles to the dust-blown government town of Richland. There they were greeted by walls of blowing brown sand called "Termination Winds" which inspired many starting employees to quit their new jobs. Not the Davidsons! Jim took a lead role in a top-secret job at the Hanford Engineer Works while she took on helping to make the then grim, dusty U. S. government town of Richland into a home. Over the next 38 years Geneva dedicated herself to serving the merging and ever-growing Tri-Cities communities of Richland, Pasco and Kennewick. While serving on the United Way Board, she envisioned the value of a community resource center providing service to the two counties which became the Benton Franklin Volunteer Center. She was its director from 1973 to 1986. She held the position of Director of the Tri-Cities Chaplaincy during its development (now Chaplaincy Health Care) from 1986 to 1989, something she always regarded her most important contribution." During this span of time Geneva's influence also included eight years as a trustee for Columbia Basin College and board president, appointed by Washington State governors, Dixie Lee Ray followed by John Spellman. Geneva held memberships in the Mid-Columbia Symphony Society, the Orthopedic Guild, and served on several Kennewick Parent Teacher Associations earning the Golden Acorn Award for outstanding service. She was a member of the Kennewick School Board for several years and served as its president. In 1982 she was named "Kennewick Woman of the Year." The Davidson family, including three sons who are graduates of Kennewick schools and Washington State University, lived in Kennewick from 1961 to 1989 and Richland before that. More community service occupied Geneva's time with the move to Los Alamos in 1989 where she especially enjoyed serving New Mexico State Museums as a docent for the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in Santa Fe. Geneva and her husband retired back to Washington State in 2003 to live near youngest son, James and family. Geneva Upchurch Davidson is survived by her husband, James M. Davidson, their sons, Dr. Robert J. Davidson, Boise, Idaho; William A. Davidson, Spokane and James Brian Davidson, Brush Prairie, WA., their wives and six grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Delia Upchurch and Littleton Upchurch. Donations in Geneva U. Davidson's memory may be directed to Chaplaincy Health Care, 1480 Fowler St., Richland, WA 99352.