Nancy Davidson Short

One hundred and three years wasn’t long enough for Nancy Davidson Short to do all she wanted to do to exercise her passionate curiosity, enthusiasm and energy in the world. An editor, writer, gardener, traveler, great mentor, friend and inspiration to many, Nancy passed away in Bellevue on November 11 after a short illness. Admired for her style, ‘yes’ attitude, and gift for spotting and nurturing the potential in story ideas and people, she will be greatly missed.

Born Anne Randolph Scudder on September 17, 1912 at Mare Island Naval Yard, Vallejo, California to naval officer and US Naval Academy graduate, Randolph Scudder, and Marjorie Fairchild Moran, Nancy spent her early childhood in seaport cities from Newport, RI to Bremerton, WA. A descendent of Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry, she christened a ship in his honor when she was twelve. For a while she lived in the Yakima Valley (Granger and Yakima) where her grandparents were early settlers, before moving to Seattle in her teens. A 1930 graduate of Garfield High School, she attended the University of Washington, joining Kappa Kappa Gamma, and establishing a chapter of the sorority at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, before graduating there in 1935. In 1936 she married Evan Russell and was widowed in 1941. She married Philip Davidson and raised two children, Randolph and Mary Anne. Philip died in 1970. She married Maxwell Short in 1972.

Best known as Northwest Editor of Sunset Magazine from the 1950’s to the late 1970’s, her 1969 Sunset article on two small Oregon wineries had an integral part in launching interest in the wine industry here. In the late 1970’s Nancy was Sunset’s Building Editor in Menlo Park, CA, and remained a consultant for the magazine into the 1990’s.

Traveling the world for Sunset, and with friends and family, was an avid passion. She flew kites in China, met Imelda Marcos in the Philippines, visited South Korea, the Black Sea, Africa, Japan and many countries in Europe. Her love of gardening was obvious to all who saw the beautiful grounds at her Hunts Point home. She was active in the Washington Park Arboretum, Lake Washington Garden Club and the Bellevue Botanical Garden.

She was an honorary member of the American Society of Architects, and on her 100th birthday was named King County Citizen of the Day by County Executive Dow Constantine. She also received the 2015 ‘WSU Master Gardener Ed LaCrosse Distinguished Service Award’.

Nancy is survived by her son Randy (Sandy) Davidson and grandchildren, Jennifer and Dan (Cindy) and two great grandsons, Colin and Wesley, nephew and nieces, and son-in-law George (Michelle) Le Doux. Her husbands and parents preceded her in death, as did her sister, Marjorie Delkin, and daughter, Mary Anne Le Doux.

The family thanks the staff at Pacific Regent for their kindness and good care. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice. Nancy was a member of Sacred Heart Church, Bellevue, WA since 1942. Her funeral service will be held there Saturday, November 21st at 1:00PM. Please sign Nancy’s guest book at www.sunsethillsfunerallhome.com.