Edmund R. Davis Dies At 86

Edmund Raphael Davis was a champion athlete, a problem solver, a lifelong learner and a supporter of the community, a hero to many and the epitome of a renaissance man.

Mr. Davis, who lived and thrived in Bridgehampton for almost 20 years, died at Southampton Hospital on Monday. He was 86.

For nearly two decades, Mr. Davis was heavily involved in the Bridgehampton community. For many years, he was a commissioner on the Southampton Town Transportation Commission and the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee, where he was elected chairman.

“When Ed was president, there was no nonsense, and everything got done promptly and fairly,” said Elise Quimby, a friend, fellow CAC member and trustee of the Hampton Library.

When the Hampton Library sought funds for its expansion in 2007, Mr. Davis and his wife, Phyllis, underwrote the renovation of the Long Island Collection room, which houses the library’s historical material, and dedicated it to Ms. Quimby.

“He had a delightful sense of humor,” Ms. Quimby said. “When I called up to say I was speechless, he said, ‘That’ll be the first time!’”

Mr. Davis was also a big supporter of Southampton Hospital. Through several heart crises, he frequented the halls of Southampton Hospital and took advantage of its cardiac rehab program.

In 2009, the Ed & Phyllis Davis Wellness Institute was created at the hospital, followed by a second site in Hampton Bays and wellness services in Montauk.

“Their support enabled not just significant bricks-and-mortar changes at the hospital but the development of key hospital staff to advance patient care and wellness,” said Southampton Hospital President and CEO Bob Chaloner. “Ed’s vision and commitment to the hospital and the wellness of the East End communities is his generous legacy.”

Born in Brooklyn to Mary and Raphael Davis on April 8, 1926, Mr. Davis attended Harvard University, where he was named the football team’s Most Valuable Player in 1944 and received Honorable Mention on the Boston Post’s All-American team. The athlete put his college career on hold when he joined the U.S. Navy, serving aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Dortch in Tokyo Bay. As a 19-year-old ensign, he was one of the first to carry out shore patrols following the bombing of Tokyo before Japan’s final surrender. He became the ship’s captain when it was placed out of commission in reserve.

Mr. Davis returned to Harvard and rejoined the lacrosse and football teams, and was named as a third-team All-American in 1946. His skills caught the attention of then NFL Boston Yanks’ coach Clipper Smith, who offered Mr. Davis the opportunity to play guard for the Yanks. Placing his education first, he decided to instead pursue an MBA at the Harvard Business School. While there, he was an assistant coach for both the Harvard football and lacrosse teams.

In the late 1950s, Mr. Davis became president of the 13th Congressional District’s Young Republican Club, where he participated in a vigorous television debate against Bobby Kennedy, a former teammate on the 1946 Harvard football team. In 1960, he worked for the Nelson Rockefeller and Jacob Javits campaigns. Meanwhile, he attended St. John University’s Law School at night and was later admitted to the New York Bar.

Mr. Davis spent several years working with real estate companies developing large apartment complexes for low and middle-income families in the New York metropolitan area. Later, he was appointed New York State deputy commissioner of housing and community renewal and was one of many public servants who helped solve New York City’s dire “brush with bankruptcy” in the mid 1970s. He later became deputy regional administrator at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and commuted between New York and Washington, D. C. Mr. Davis and his wife built a home in Bridgehampton and moved there full-time in 1994.

“He was an unbelievable athlete, and an incredibly smart man who earned his law degree at night and who was involved in politics,” his nephew Mark Davis said. “My father is my hero, and my uncle being so similar to him, made him someone I really looked up to all my life.”

The two brothers, Ed and Will, were known as “the book ends,” because they looked alike, they were both star athletes, extremely smart and accomplished in their careers, according to Mark Davis.

Not only was Mr. Davis well-read and knowledgeable, he was also an artist.

He took painting and figure drawing lessons in New York City, but began sculpting and studied at the Golden Eagle art store in East Hampton. His first major work was a cast bronze of two lacrosse players vying for the ball. At the time of his death, he was working on a sculpture depicting two football players in mid-tackle.

“It was amazing to watch the progress,” said Golden Eagle Manager Laura Stone. “He was very determined. If he had to work on the foot all day, he worked on the foot. If went you back there, he’d tell you a story about when he played and why the players were in a certain position, and explain the way it was played.”

More than sculpting, however, Mr. Davis loved his wife, Phyllis. Married in 1968, the two loved each other’s company, according to Mark.

“If you’re looking for someone and a relationship to look up to, look up to Ed and Phyllis—they were the ideal couple,” Ms. Stone said. “He’d leave here and say ‘Alright I’m going to go take my girl on a date now.’ They were always happy together.”

In addition to his wife, Phyllis Burke Davis, he is survived by his brother Will Davis of Pennsylvania; his sister Nancy Jean Davis of Brooklyn; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister Kathryn Davis Zabe of Massachusetts.

Services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Davis Wellness Institute at Southampton Hospital, at www.southamptonhospital.org or by phone at 726-8700; or the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, at P.O. Box 3025, Bridgehampton, NY 11932, or by phone at 537-0015.