THORNTON --- Richard Bell Davis, 89, of Thornton, New Hampshire, passed away peacefully at home on June 27, 2026, with his treasured wife, Sally Davis by his side.

Born in Newton Massachusetts, August 7, 1936, Richard was the youngest son of Reverend Howard P. Davis and Dorothy Brotherton Davis.

He spent his boyhood in Bolton, Massachusetts. "Dickie," as he was known, loved his adventures with his friends and his brothers Howie, Bill, and Bob, along with the occasional mischief. When asked about the scar on his hand, he would recount his disastrous discovery of a wayward stick of dynamite. His childhood was also marked by the tragic loss of his brother, Howard P. Davis, Jr., a pilot, killed in combat in 1945.

Davis graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he majored in English.

He found his calling as a high school English teacher. His career brought him to the Tilton School, New Hampshire; The Phelps School, Pennsylvania; the Prairie School, Wisconsin; Hamden Hall, Connecticut; Lincoln Sudbury, Massachusetts, The Albany Academy, New York; Chicago High School for the Arts, Illinois, and the position from which he retired, Waterville Valley Academy. When off during the summers, he worked as a counselor at the Interlochen School of the Arts.

He relished introducing his English students to classics and modern authors alike, with a particular fondness for the great short story practitioners-Poe, Hemingway, Carver, Salinger, and Jackson. He took naturally to mentoring his students, especially the "underdogs." After a former student was incarcerated, he kept in close touch, writing regular letters and offering his literary guidance.

Sometimes caustic, sometimes corny, his sense of humor was one of his defining traits. He offered his daughter a solid foundation in all the comedy that television would provide, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and TAXI among their favorites.

Richard was a natural and prolific writer. He authored hundreds of works, from sonnets to short stories, essays to memoirs. In 1988, he penned the words for "The Bolton Canticle," a musical composition premiered on the occasion of the Two Hundred Fiftieth anniversary of Bolton, Massachusetts.

Music was another of his great loves-- he had an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music. While not a musician, he loved to "air conduct" especially for what his daughter called, the "big and boomy" stuff - Sibelius, Ravel, Wagner. He was also quite a performer, and very proud of his portrayal of Tevye in a local production of The Fiddler on the Roof.

The Davis family cottage, High Eagle, on Welch Island, Lake Winnipesaukee was his most treasured place. It was here he was most content, down on the dock with his telescope at night, engaged in heated scrabble games (which he usually won, sometimes with scores topping 400), or simply washing the evening's dishes in contented silence.

Davis was predeceased by his father, Reverend Howard P. Davis, mother, Dorothy B. Davis, and brothers Howard P. Davis, Jr., and Rev. William B. Davis; and beloved pets, Dezzy, Shadow, Becky, Sammy, Julie, and Golda.

Davis is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Sally Davis. They met while in the choir at Carleton College, but did not get together until decades later, almost by chance. He and Sally had 27 wonderful years together. They shared their immense love of music, listening to the Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcast on Saturday nights. They also shared hundreds of games of Scrabble. He loved her deeply, often sharing with his daughter his gratitude for Sally's love, companionship, wit, and strength.

He is also survived by Sally's sons, David, Kevin, and Dan Smathers; his former wife, Etta Lappen Davis, their daughter, Sarah Davis; her husband Nate Flanigan, and daughter Oona Flanigan Davis; his brother Robert Davis; his nephews, John Davis and Mark Davis, and nieces, Connie Davis and Carol Davis.IMG_0373.jpg (893K)

He did not have explicit wishes for a memorial. His instructions were that those who wish to honor his memory listen to Sibelius' Symphony no 2. The family suggests doing so with the volume turned up. Big and boomy.