Robert Louis Davis

Robert Louis Davis, died January 24, 2014, Born June 16, 1927, at old Wichita Hospital, Seneca Douglas. The son of Judge Carl H. Davis and Maria Francisco Davis, Robert L. Davis grew up in the Quaker area of West Wichita, near Friends University and was a lifelong active member of University Friends Meeting. During ninth grade, he started working at Wichita Public Library, and was employed there until graduation from Wichita North High School, where he was valedictorian of the Class of 1945, editor of the North Star paper, and editor of the Tower, the school annual. He was also the male lead in the senior play. Davis served briefly in the Navy during World War II. Returning to Kansas, he was awarded a Summerfield Scholarship and spent six years at the University of Kansas, earning an undergraduate and law degree (Juris Doctor). Recognized by the school annual as a “Big Man on K.U. Campus,” he was president of his Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, of the campus YMCA, and of the K.U. Statewide Activities Association. Davis later held national offices as an alumni with Alpha Kappa Lambda. For three years he wrote a column of student news that was published weekly in the Wichita Eagle newspaper. He was elected to membership in Omicron Delta Kappa (Sachem) and Phi Beta Kappa during his junior year. During his time in law school, he worked 10-12 hours a week as secretary and typist for the tax-law and agency professor. Following graduation and passing the Kansas Bar examination, he spent 18 months working for the Gulf Oil Company as a management trainee in Utah and Nevada, before returning to Wichita to join his father, Carl H. Davis, in the practice of law. The elder Davis completed 50 years of law practice in Wichita in 1961, and the son completed 50 years of law practice in Wichita in 2004. Following the death of his father, Davis was joined in the practice of law by his nephew, Rick Davis, and later by his son-in-law, Kenneth Jack, and then by his son, Carl B. Davis. He was a member of the Wichita Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association, and the Utah Bar Association. He was Municipal Judge of Goddard, Kansas, for eleven years, and was admitted to practice law in the state court of Kansas and Utah, the Federal District and appellate courts, the U.S. Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court. Active in educational matters in Wichita, Davis served terms as chairman of the Wichita Council on Education, and as president of the Kansas Association for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative. He was elected to the Wichita School Board, and served 8 years. He was president of the Board during the year when desegregation issues dominated the agenda, and hundreds of patrons crowded each Board meeting and picketed around the building, protesting busing and efforts to abide by court decrees. One week, Davis received more than 1500 pieces of mail, and his phone was constantly ringing, night and day. Davis served as chairman of the West Branch YMCA during the time that it acquired Friends Park and built its first facility, and was presiding officer at the dedication. The property was later acquired by Friends University and is the site of the Garvey Physical Education building. Having grown up in the Quaker area that then existed in West Wichita, in the shadow of the Friends tower building (Davis Hall), he was interested in the school and its welfare. He served on its Board of Trustees for 19 years, and as the Board Chairman for nine years. He was campaign chairman of the fund drive that raised money for the erection of the Stanley Library building, the Wm. Penn Science Hall, and what is now the Riney Fine Arts Center. Davis also was an active participant in Freemasonry, and served terms as presiding officer of the Albert Pike Masonic Lodge, the Wichita Scottish Rite bodies, and the Wichita York Rite bodies. He was recipient of the 33rd degree in and was elected to the Red Cross of Constantine in. He served as Trustee of the Wichita Scottish Rite for 16 years. He was a 50-year member of the Midian Shrine. In the 1960s, as president of a newly organized Goodwill Industries Board of Directors, he played a key role in bringing William Reel to Wichita as first director. He gave a significant amount of time to the project, and raised the first seed money for employing the director, leasing the first plant on West Douglas, and the purchase of a site and erection of the present plant on North Hillside. He was a founding donor to the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, and was a long-time supporter and benefactor of Wichita Childrens Theatre and Dance Centre. Davis served terms as president of the Wichita University Club and the Wichita Knife Fork Club. He was a member of the Rolling Hills Country Club. He served on the national boards of the American Friends Service Committee and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Davis met his wife, Marian Larson of Detroit, a graduate of the University of Michigan, while working in Salt Lake City, where she was teaching. They married in 1955, and she later taught in the Wichita Public Schools and in the Sedgwick County Educational Cooperative, earning a masters degree in gifted education at Kansas State University. Survivors include his wife, Marian; daughter Martha Davis of Boston; daughter Alison Jack and her husband, Kenneth Jack of Wichita; son Carl B. Davis and his wife, Kristine Davis of Wichita; daughter, Janet Donaghue, and her husband Douglas Donaghue of Wichita; and ten grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the University Friends Church, 1840 University Ave. at 2:00 pm on Thursday, January 30, 2014. Memorial gifts may be made to University Friends Church, 1840 W. University, Wichita, KS 67213 and Wichita Childrens Theatre and Dance Center, 201 Lulu, Wichita, KS 67211. Downing and Lahey West. Tributes may be sent to the family via www.dlwichita.com