Joe Davis, 96, passed away peacefully Saturday night.
A memorial service is planned for 10:00 am, Saturday November 15th at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick: Map, accommodations, and dining.
Update 20081028:
The obituary as it appears in the local Frederick newspaper
On Saturday October 25, 2008, Frederick County’s oldest Eagle Scout, Joseph J. Davis, Sr., passed away at age 96. “Uncle Joe” was a lifetime Boy Scout, having entered the Scouting program in 1924 at age 12 in Troop 39 of Manchester, NY and served as a volunteer and professional until his death – over 84 years later. Along the way he received many rewards and honors. He earned his Eagle Scout badge in 1928 and had it presented to him by James E. West, Scouting’s first national Scout Executive. He was awarded the District Award of Merit, the Silver Beaver Award and, appropriately enough, the James E. West Award. Additionally he was only the second man in Frederick County to be awarded the Distinguished Eagle Award. His last Scouting honor was the Silver Sage award from the Philmont Staff Association.
Joe first came to Frederick County in 1935 upon his graduation from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry. He worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps for three years in the Frederick Watershed area. It was while working for the CCCs, that Joe met and married the former Viola Rice who predeceased him in 1981. He subsequently moved to the Garret County CCC projects where he and Viola had their son Jack who predeceased his father in August of this year. Joe was also predeceased by his father, John Davis, mother Lena Nader Davis and his sister Mary Davis.
In 1943, Joe left the CCCs and began to work with the Boy Scouts of America in Philadelphia. After Philadelphia, he was transferred to Washington, D.C., then Roanoke VA, Chicago, and, finally, his ultimate assignment as Director of Camping at Philmont, the BSA’s 175,000 acre ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico. He retired to Frederick in 1976 and has been active with the Boy Scouts, the Association for the Advancement of Retired People, Meals on Wheels, the Literacy Council and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick.
He is survived by two grandsons; Sean Davis of Denver, CO and Keith Davis of Oakland, CA and a Great-granddaughter, Alyssa Davis of Mandeville, Louisiana. In addition he leaves several nieces and a nephew: Linda Sundergill, Allen Wachter, Johnna Lee Kennedy and Gerry Ann Houck of Frederick, as well as Yvonne Magaha and Charles “Buddy” May both in Florida. He also is survived by his God-daughter Betty Ross of New York State.
A memorial service is planned for 10:00 am, Saturday November 15, 2008 at Evangelical Lutheran Church, Frederick. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in Joe’s name to the Frederick County Boy Scouts of America Friends of Scouting campaign or to the Evangelical Lutheran Church Building Miracles Capital Campaign. Checks for ELC should be sent directly to the church at 31 E. Church St., Frederick, MD 21701 and checks for the Boy Scouts should be made to “BSA-NCAC” and sent care of Linda Sundergill, 7015 Sundays Lane, Frederick, Maryland 21702.
All comments seem to be getting trapped in the spam filter first. I’m checking it as often as possible. Don’t fear if your comment doesn’t appear instantly. Thanks/sorry. ~Douglas
A giant has fallen.
It’s wonderful that he was able to make it back to the Ranch for dedication of the SSSAC this August. I’m sure it was meaningful to him; I know it was to me.
It will be a long time before we have another who makes Joe’s kind of impact. I owe my career choice to Joe’s encouragement at a difficult time. The “starlit skies” will be a bit dimmer tonight.
I had been my and my wife Kathryn’s pleasure a few years ago to take Joe Davis out to tour the backcountry. His knowledge was encyclopedic, and his stories were extraordinary. A favorite: when taking folks out in the back country in his 1936 Ford, he would have each gate figured out so that he knew precisely where to pull up and stop, leaving the car in neutral. He would get out, open the gate, and then whistle toward the car and wave it through. The car, having needed precisely that amount of time to build momentum, would obediantly roll forward through the gate, and stop at a predetermined point, at which Joe would get in and drive off, to the amazed befuddlement of the passenger.
It was an honor and pleasure to have known him.
Cantor Charles Osborne (Jewish Chaplain)
As a first year staff member at Fish Camp in 1973, Joe visited and brought along paychecks. As he handed us our checks he commented that it is so beautiful at Fish Camp that we should pay to work there. Of course he was correct, however we happily took our checks anyway. Joe will always be remembered as an inspirational leader of Philmont.
It is in great sadness that i hear about Joe Davis passing. He lived a long and wonderful life.
I was shocked that he was still with us so long.
in 1969, i was a 17 year old Philmont Staffer, working att he Trading Post. it was my first job working away from home in Philadelphia. Joe welcomed me to Philmont with his classic handshake. He treated me as a man not as a child.
His personality, optimism, and warmness will be missed. He made me and Philmont and the world a better place!
Peace and Joy,
Ken Klein
Philadelphia
With every politician in the country trying to out-SOB each other this month, it is doubly sad to note the passing of a great Scouter, a great man, and truly one of the Good Guys. I really appreciate Jim McGillivray’s efforts at keeping us supplied with updates and helping us to prepare our hearts for this news. Joe’s presence at the Silver Sage presentations just a couple months ago was indeed a blessing for all of us who were able to share a few last moments with him. My first encounter (one does not just “meet” Joe Davis) with Mr. Davis was 40 summers ago; I was a lowly 17-year-old latrine orderly (with the inflated title of Assistant HQ Maintenance Manager), and Joe made me and the others on that staff feel that he valued our role as “members of the GREAT Philmont staff” as much as any Ranger or Backcounty CD. Over the next six summers I was constantly in awe of the way Joe was able to take a sincere interest in each individual staff member, advisor, and crew that came within his shoulder-wrenching grasp. When I came back to Philmont as a newly-minted District Executive leading a four-crew council contingent, Joe invited me to spend a good twenty minutes in his office sharing tales of my staff years and encouraging me in my professional responsibilities during the very tumultuous BoyPower years. My greatest unease at the news of Joe’s passing is the knowledge that there are hundreds of his staff who cherish fond memories of his impact on their lives but who will not hear of his death or have a chance to share their memories with the rest of us. That unease is offset by the gratitude I have for Joe’s embrace of the PSA as it was founded during his last years as Director of Camping, allowing those of us who have thus been able to stay in touch with the ranch to share our sorrow that this great man will no longer walk among us. Carry on, Joe!
Joe Davis is one of the finest men I have never known. I love him like my own father! He was my friend and mentor for 43 years. I am very sad. He may have been 96 years old but that does not lessen the pain. I was with him the day before he died and I am so glad I made the trip to Frederick.
Jim MacGillvray cracked open a bottle of whiskey Joe had given him just a month ago: 107 proof and 7 years old. I found out it was given to Joe by Don Wilson many years ago. It was so strong I choked on the first sip! Joe took several sips by way of a spinge swab. He didn’t choke. It was a great final toast to a great man! Thanks, Jim. We need to save the rest for Joe’s 100th birthday in 2012.
I hope we can show our love and respect for him by way of a great turnout at the memorial service on Nov. 15th.
Ned Gold
It was the summer of 1968 when I was fortunate enough to work for Joe Davis. I was the Camp Director of Sawmill camp, and I have never forgotten the impression and impact that Joe had on my life. His friendship and leadership were simply GREAT! I received my military induction notice that summer while at Philmont, and was in the Marine Corps and at boot camp in less than 3 weeks following my departure from the ranch that August. I became a Marine officer and a helicopter pilot prior to going to Vietnam. I stayed in touch with Joe during those years, and he often suggested that I fly to the ranch and bring some Marines for a visit. That never happened, but I’m sure if it had, Joe would have been the first to greet everyone with a firm handshake and a remarkable smile. I never saw Joe again after that 68 summer, but I never forgot him. I spent over 24 years with the Mairine Corps and met hundreds of extrordinary men and women, but without a doubt, Joe Davis is in the top 3 of the finest leaders and human beings that I have ever known. I am blessed to have known such a man! The ranch in the sky is a better place tonight.
Joe Davis will be missed by all of us who had the honor and pleasure of knowing him. In reading what Ned, Jan and others have written about Joe, I also remember how he always took great personal interest in everyone he met. He would always encourage you to do your best. I’m reminded of the time at one of the first PSA East Coast Reunions when I told Joe that I was working on a Doctorate at the University of Scouting at the Baltimore Area Council. Joe was very impressed and urged me to keep at it until I finished it. He even mentioned my Doctorate goal during his remarks before the entire group and noted how we all should keep learning about this great Scouting program. I was deeply impressed by Joe’s encouragement and did get to tell him that I finished it when I saw Joe at a subsequent reunion. I must say that Joe was pleased and so was I that I got to tell him. We’ll miss you Joe, but know that you’ll be waiting to greet us at that great big Scouting campfire up above.
“People are more important than things.” — Joe Davis
Ode to Joe
Silver on the Sage
Starlit skies above
Aspen covered hills
Country that he loved
Philmont here’s to thee
His lifelong paradise
Joe’s in God’s country tonight
CONSUMMATE FORESTER
Joe Davis believed
in young men and women
as a forester believes
in every evergreen’s
right to stand among peers,
unique and equal;
His method, a grin,
his shoulder-tugging hand grip
the seal of the strength
of his promise,
“I believe in you.”
He would hand you responsibility
as easily as he lit his pipe,
and off you’d go
staffing another camp for him,
starting your own family,
welcoming your fifth grandchild;
With him checking in by
a pecan pie in the mail
and a note about
could he stop by on his way
back to Philmont.
(In Celebration of Joe Davis 1912-2008
Director of Camping 1960s-70s
Philmont Scout Ranch)
Greg Hobbs 10/28/2008
Removed as duplicate of previous. ~Douglas
My first impression of Joe Davis was the famous handshake that pulled me off my feet when I was a first year ranger in 1969. After experiencing this a couple of times, I soon learned to keep my arm retracted when meeting Joe, after which I always got a firm shake with a big smile. There was always a warm greeting with a genuine interest in me as an individual. He was a rare man who could reach across the generation gap with the ease of a ranger jumping across a small creek, and then convince each and every advisor, no matter the age or background, that they were “his personal friend”. I have never met a more charismatic person before or after.
Joe’s ability to inspire always came through at a campfire for the staff. His clear, booming voice was always offering a positive, forward-looking message that would always raise my spirits, recharge my batteries, fine tune my direction, and generally energize everyone within earshot.
The times that I treasure, to this day, were the meetings I had with Joe when I was a Kit Carson Man Ranger in 1971. The KCM program was Joe’s baby and he always took a special interest in our treks, the participants, and what we, as Rangers, were accomplishing with the program. He was always supportive and encouraging. After each and every trek he would invite the Rangers over to his house for his special peach milkshakes – a secret recipe that I have never been able to come close to.
Joe, your body is now taking a well deserved rest, but your soul and spirit will live forever in the hearts and minds of all Philmont staffers – past, present and future!
I can close my eyes and see Joe as I first saw him in 1971. I was warned about the handshake but overwhelmed with his enthusiasm for Philmont and for me, one of numerous new summer staffers. At one point on that first day he pulled me aside and thanked me personally for joining his staff. His excitement was evident and he made me feel like the most important person in the world. He didn’t even know me, but he believed in me. At some point I realized that he welcomed every new staff member in similar fashion. It didn’t make any difference. From that day forward, I always felt special around Joe. Somehow I stood taller around him. Joe Davis had the amazing ability to be fully present in any conversation with you. He gave you full eye contact and expected you to do the same with him. Sometimes he held that handshake longer than expected as he pulled you in close and faced you man to man. His passion for Philmont, for his staff, for the Boy Scouts, and for serving others never waned.
It’s easy for me to remember that booming voice:
“Men, it’s GREAT to be at Philmont”….and so it was.
The highlight of my time at Philmont last summer was being able to meet and interview Joe Davis on camera. I will include the interview in the documentary I am making for Philmont. It’s expected to be released in 2010.
I do not want to post the interview earlier unless I had the blessings of his family and the ranch. He spoke for almost 10 minutes and recalled his days at Philmont in the interview.
What an honor to meet such a legend. Joe’s spirit (along with his handshake) nearly knocked me off of my feet.
Joe Davis – “Papa Joe”
In a small, dusty graveyard in Wajee Nature Park, Nyeri, Kenya, near Mount Kenya, a small gravestone bears a circle with a dot in the center, which is the Boy Scout trail sign for “I have gone home”:
It marks the burial site of Sir Robert Stephenson Smythe Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting.
When told of the small, obscure commemoration of a truly great individual, many people asked: “Where is the great monument, the glorious tribute to this great man?” They were told: “if you seek his monument, look about you.”
The same shall be said of Joe Davis, He Who’s Handshake Shall Never be Forgotten.
Through his many years, Joe was a friend to all he met and a father figure to many. During my time at Philmont and afterwards, Joe mentored me in so many ways that surpassed his calling as my boss… it was my privilege to know him both as a friend and a virtual father.
I weep as I write this remembrance, for his passing has left a hole in my heart which will never heal… but I rejoice in his life, which meant so much to so many. We spent many treasured experiences together, and his photograph on my wall still looks over my shoulder as a reminder to do my best.
It might be noted that all of the members of Joe Davis’ 1973 executive management team have been honored with the Silver Sage Award – not only for what we did, but because Joe encouraged us, supported us, and fought for us against all opposition. We succeeded because we stood on the shoulders of a giant… Joe Davis.
The same is true for all who knew “Papa Joe” – if you seek his monument, go not to the graveyard, but look about you. Look at all the lives he touched. Look at all those he raised to greatness by the force of his effervescent personality and indomitable spirit.
Like many others, Joe was a father to me, one who always stood ready to stand by me to support me, to counsel me, and to love me, no matter what. Without him, I am bereft – but I also know that in truth, Joe Davis will live forever in the hearts of those of us who were in his presence and remember his everlasting admonition – to “Carry On!
Joe Davis, the Ultimate Scouter
by William F. Cass
This is not a Joe Davis “story;” rather, it is an essay by one of his legions of friends. Scouting was made for a guy like Joe, and he certainly was created just for Scouting.
I never worked for Joe at Philmont since my last year was the year before Joe arrived at the Ranch. However, I still recall seeing him on national television one summer evening in the late 1960s. It was a year or so after “The flood,” and Joe was on the network evening news, minimizing concern over the “bubonic plague” scare that visited Philmont that summer. I certainly saw that Davis confidence and enthusiasm which Ned Gold, the Philmont Staff Association’s founder, had told me about in the autumn of 1965, just after Ned’s last year at Philmont.
I was able to do a pro bono project for Joe in 1976, shortly after his tour at the Ranch was up. It was the year he spent at the National Office in New Jersey, promoting National High Adventure. He had just retired from the best job in Scouting, reaching the very top of his profession. Not Chief Scout Executive. Rather, the pinnacle was Director of Camping at Philmont. Joe would probably have said that working as a Philmont Ranger is better than the Chief Scout Executive’s job in Irving, Texas.
In the spring of 1976, Ned Gold suggested that Joe and I get acquainted to develop a brochure on National High Adventure that Joe wanted as part of his new responsibilities. Ned made some oblique remark about being ready for meeting Joe, but I paid absolutely no attention to it. Needless to say, I was nearly tossed into one of the four walls in my company’s reception area so vigorous was Joe’s greeting when he came down to Philadelphia from New Brunswick to discuss objectives for the High Adventure literature.
After he explained what his goals were, we went to lunch at the Hoffman House, a German restaurant on Sansom Street. I do not recall what I had for lunch, but vividly recall that Joe had ox tail soup. He was no stranger to Philadelphia, and had been to the Hoffman House frequently many years before. At this writing (2008), there are still people in Cradle of Liberty Council who remember what a remarkable Director of Camping Joe was in Philadelphia in the 1940s.
He always seemed to know everybody, and everybody he met probably thought he or she had just become Joe’s best friend. He hugged the ladies, squeezing the breath right out of them with the same vigor he used to crunch gentlemen’s knuckles. I suspect that there was a Will Rogers aura about Joe – he never met a person he did not like, and, for sure, there was never a person that did not like Joe right off the bat.
He was Philmont’s ultimate Director of Camping/Program. He certainly had all of the requisite credentials: a profoundly extrovert, warmly enthusiastic personality; a long series of major successes before arriving at Philmont; a strong sense of adventure; a bright, inquiring, and eternally optimistic mind; a treasure house of stories; an endless network of friends; that remarkable personal presence; and a total command of Scoutcraft skills. His greatest attributes were creativity, enthusiasm, and audacity (read “inspirational”). The changes he made at Philmont were revolutionary – and lasting. I suspect that every Philmont General Manager, Director of Program, and Chief Ranger since Joe’s days has, at one time or another, wondered, “Hmm, I wonder how Joe Davis would have handled this problem (or opportunity)?”
If ever there was a guy to whom all of those old clichés really and truly apply, it is Joe Davis. When it comes to “cast a long shadow,” “an American original,” “never see the like of his kind again,” and “broke the mold and threw it away,” you will have to look long and hard to find another that even comes close to Joe Davis.
Fast forward to 1989. I was back in Scouting and at the National Jamboree as director of the souvenir video project – 13 years after last seeing Joe Davis. We were taping the Brownsea Island exhibit at Fort A.P. Hill when I noticed two elderly men walking up to the campsite. “It’s Joe Davis,” I thought to myself. I was ready for the handshake this time, make no mistake. The other gentleman was none other than Joe’s great friend of many years, “Greenbar Bill” Hillcourt. We had a wonderful reunion which was updated three years later at Joe’s 80th birthday bash in Frederick.
From that point on, I saw Joe much more frequently. I was a guest in his house occasionally, and had him up to my home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, for events such as my son’s Eagle Court of Honor and a private visit to the World of Scouting Museum in Valley Forge. When the Philmont Staff Association initiated its “Fellows” program, it was a great opportunity for me to become the “Joe Davis Fellow.” One of the best aspects of that was presenting a Fellows Honoree plaque to Joe at a Scouting district dinner in Frederick. Other memorable events followed: Joe’s Distinguished Eagle Scout Award dinner in Frederick, his 90th Birthday party at a Philmont Staff Association event in suburban Washington, D.C., introducing him as a Charter Silver Sage recipient at Philmont, presenting his Silver Sage plaque at a district dinner in Frederick, and occasional phone calls and meetings to collaborate on some of his special Scouting projects.
Many honors came his way. I suspect that his greatest satisfaction came from the intangibles: knowing that he had touched tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of young lives during his long, productive career in professional Scouting. He was always modest about recognition, and he certainly had many richly deserved awards over the years. I hope and suspect that of all of those distinctions, he especially enjoyed being a charter Silver Sage.
To be sure, Joe had some disappointments in his life. The love of his life, his wife Viola, predeceased him by over 25 years. His son, Jack, died only several months before Joe himself – a terrible hardship it is to bury an only child. In the end, he knew he would not live to be 100 years old or witness American Scouting’s 100th birthday.
But Joe, with his enduring spirit, still carried on. I think he was the most positive-thinking and uplifting person I have ever met or will ever meet.
Time, everybody’s inexorable enemy, tried to catch up with Joe – and had a very difficult time of it indeed. Yes, Joe’s hearing and eyesight were going. He truly fixed one of his bothersome knees by simply replacing it. The Grim Reaper really dulled his scythe trying to age Joe. I visited Joe the day he died, a rainy Saturday in Frederick, Maryland. As I left, I shook that once-powerful right hand, then weak and unresponsive – in one sense. It will, however, for me and countless others, always be the firm extension of a singularly remarkable personality, one, who, like the Scouting maxim, “Leave this campsite cleaner than you found it,” left this world and many, many lives truly enriched.
Joe is up in that Great Trail Camp in the Sky today. Doubtless, Saint Peter, guarding the Pearly Gates, now has a sprained right wrist, aching knuckles, and a bedazzled look on his face wondering who that enthusiastic whirlwind of a high adventurer was that just arrived.
God bless Joe Davis!
I am truly bummed out at having to be away from my computer during the memorial service. As a fellow Scouting professional, Joe would understand that between Labor Day and Thanksgiving there are few weekends without something going on. But in light of the postings above, I couldn’t resist adding a second thought. One of the most prominent features of all the memorials posted, is the universal impression that Joe obviously left upon all he met. Look at all the references to THE HANDSHAKE, the infectious optimism about how GREAT he believed Philmont and its staff were, the sincere and undiscriminating interest in and affection for everyone in his orbit however briefly, his signature sign-off “Carry On!” Joe Davis personified integrity; everyone he met saw the same man. His personna was not just something he adopted when giving speeches or meeting crews coming off the bus; it was Joe 24/7/365. It is that quality that makes Joe so memorable and sets him apart. How the feelings of gratitude, envy, and inadequacy mingle as we measure ourselves against that standard. Truly: One of the Good Guys. We are in sore need of more like him.
Jan Gimar
The memorial for Joe was very moving. I first met him in 1965, both of us in our first year at Philmont and the Year of The Flood. I didn’t appreciate until years later just what kind of leadership it took to get us all through that mess. I really have enjoyed all the anecdotes about Joe here and at the service. I only worked with him for two summers, and last saw him in 1968, but he was an unforgettable character.
I was Trading Post Warehouse Director in ’65 and JLIT Scoutmaster in ’66.