James Frazier Davis

MADISON - James Frazier “Jim” Davis went to be with God on Sept. 30, 2023, weeks shy of his 92nd birthday.  Jim was born on Oct. 18, 1931, in Douds-Leando, Iowa to John H. Davis and Edna Frazier Davis.  Jim grew up in a special home in Sleepy Hollow, Va., where he enjoyed shooting cans with a beloved BB gun in the backyard and going to the Museum of Natural History in nearby Washington, D.C. There he saw the dinosaur skeletons which began his lifelong interest in geology and earth science.  Jim went to the University of Virginia where he got his degree in geology and was proud of living on “the lawn” in a room near where Edgar Allen Poe and President Wilson had been students.  Jim went to the University of Wisconsin Madison where he got three things: a master’s and Ph.D. in Geology and the love of his life, Sally. Jim and Sally met at Pres House on campus. Although Jim was an avid Badgers fan, Jim and Sally skipped a November football game and stayed at Rennebohm’s Drug Store and got engaged.

Jim and Sally were married on Dec. 29, 1956, in Gresham, Wis., on a bitter cold but happy day. Jim is survived by his wife of 66 plus years, Sally Ann (Buettner) Davis; two children, Virginia (Ginny) Hayes and Victor Davis; a son-in-law loved like a son, Brian Hayes; and four grandchildren and two grandchildren-in-law who were the apples of his twinkling blue eyes, Anthony “A.J.” (Paige) Hayes, Robert (Caroline) Hayes, Joseph Hayes, and Genna Hayes. But the icing on the cake was his great-granddaughter, Charlie Vivian Hayes. Her pictures never failed to bring him joy.  Family was essential to Jim.  His happiest days were travelling with family, celebrating his and Sally’s 50th wedding anniversary in Hawaii, as well as New York and California, places where they had lived with many lifelong friends. Jim loved travelling with Sally to the Holy Land and Europe, taking the Hayes and Davis guys to Scotland to celebrate Jim’s Scottish heritage along with Harry Potter, but enjoyed many summers of fishing with his grandchildren in Minocqua and having breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s just as much.  Jim loved gathering with the Davis family and the Buettner/Seering families for reunions that spanned generations and included cutthroat croquet games and fabulous family food.  He always found room for second helpings!

Jim was a Renaissance man in many ways.  He loved to draw and sketch throughout his life.  He loved the earth and the outdoors.  During graduate school, Jim mapped the wilderness in Alaska and parts of Canada by canoe.  He spent time doing iron ore research in UP Michigan. He enjoyed pheasant and duck hunting on Long Island and fishing in Canada and the Atlantic Ocean. Jim was an original Do-It-Yourselfer, before it was trendy. When he and Sally bought a home in New York, portions of which were over 200 years old, he remodeled, rewired, and even found a new water source for the well. Jim had a beautiful singing voice and enjoyed the symphony, theatre, Welsh and Celtic music from his heritage, but also loved Elvis and Disney World with his grandchildren.  He even sang Elvis’s “Take My Hand” a cappella to his wife at Sally’s retirement party.  Jim was an avid reader, especially books that fed his love of history.  Growing up in Virginia, he enjoyed visiting many sites of Revolutionary and Civil War importance and later shared them with his wife and children. He was the descendant of four Revolutionary War patriots.  Jim was an excellent photographer and was often absent from a picture because he was so good at capturing the life of those he loved around him.  And Saturdays and Sundays in season brought Jim great joy or heartache, depending on the year, as he was an avid Badgers and Packers fan.  He adopted these strong allegiances when he married his northern Wisconsin sweetheart and never wavered, no matter where they lived and even when Virginia played Wisconsin and his fellow UVA alum brother was in Madison for the game (the Badgers won 26 to 17).  He loved every cold Packers game he attended in person and especially the two Rose Bowls he shared with Sally and taking two of his grandsons to Badgers Bowl games.

Jim was an accomplished scientist and scholar, focusing on public policy. Jim’s career in public service began at the New York State Geological Survey, where he spent 16 years and eventually became the State Geologist. In New York, Jim worked on the safety of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, just miles from NYC, and seated on an earthquake fault. The plant was redesigned for safety using Jim’s geologic and seismic knowledge. This work led Jim to become the California State Geologist, a position he held for 25 years. Jim’s work expanded modern seismic mapping and monitoring systems that helped structural engineers design safer structures and allowed emergency responders to better evaluate post-earthquake needs. Jim received many awards during his career, but the two that meant the most were the Ian Campbell Award for Superlative Service to the Geosciences and a replica of a Sheriff’s Gold Rush Era Star Badge for mine inspection. Jim loved the University of Wisconsin Geoscience Department and was on its Board of Visitors.

Jim was a man of deep faith.  He met his beloved wife at church and they made their faith a priority.  Jim was voted an elder of every church he attended.  In the 1960s, he was the first to break with tradition as an usher, and instead of wearing a stuffy morning coat, he opted for his favorite brown suit and raised many eyebrows. He helped begin the Eight Step Coffee House at their church in Albany, N.Y., open to all but also bringing in folk singers like Pete Seeger, an advocate of cleaning up the Hudson River, which Jim championed as his beautiful home overlooked the river.

Jim was a devoted Christian, and also a true scientist, a geologist, and a scholar of the creation of the heavens and the earth.  In his view, there was no problem being both. He shared this view without hesitation.  In his home, you prayed together before every meal and before every major life event or decision, and you knew he knew Jesus.

Jim was predeceased by his beloved parents, John and Edna Davis; his much-loved brother and sister-in-law, Lowell H. and Roberta Davis; dear cousins, John and Barbara Davis; and cherished in-laws, Roy and Vivian Buettner.  Jim is further survived by people he dearly loved: his cousins, Marvin and Shirley Davis; Davis cousins and nieces and nephews he loved like his own children; and the best in-laws anyone could have, sister-in-law, Vanice (Marshall) Schultz and family, brother-in-law, Doug Buettner, sister-in-law Carol (Paul) Roessler; and dear friends literally from coast to coast.

A Memorial Service will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. Family and friends who wish to view the services via LIVE STREAM may visit Jim’s obituary page at www.gundersonfh.com and click on the Live Webcast link at 3:30 p.m. A visitation will be held at the funeral home from 2 p.m. until the time of the service.  A light supper will be served following the memorial service.

In Jim’s memory, contributions may be made to the UW-Department of Geoscience Terra Fund in honor of James Davis at the UW Foundation: https://geoscience.wisc.edu/giving/ to assist geoscience students.  

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson East

Funeral & Cremation Care

5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420