Stephen Lynn Davis

Steve Davis loved the water. Anyone who knew him understood this. And he had seen more of it on Earth than most. From SCUBA diving in the Red Sea, to tarpon fishing in Costa Rica; from oil platforms in the North Sea, to vacations in the South Pacific. His life brought him back to the water time and again. It began in Corpus Christi, near the Gulf of Mexico. He was the son of George C. Davis and Billie Fae Garrett and brother to Jeff Davis, all of whom preceded him in death. He grew up playing and working in the Gulf. His surfboard cost more than his first car, and he eagerly anticipated the days before the arrival of a big storm when the surf would actually give him something to ride. He hitchhiked up and down “18 Mile Road” in Port Aransas when you could still do that, and he proudly regaled his family with stories of having been a regular at the first Whataburger that ever was. After Hurricane Celia in 1969, he started his own business as a 17-year-old, raising and salvaging boats that had been victims of the storm by using his diving skills. He dreamed of working in oceanography, but when life intervened with other plans, he quickly pivoted to the oil business that he had grown up around. He worked for ExxonMobil for 35 years, retiring after a career lived around the world. He and his family lived in Bahrain, Malaysia, Norway, Egypt, and Texas.

Steve raised three children, all of whom survived him and loved him dearly: Neil (Lorena), Matt (Ashley), and Heather (Kobi); and he was the proud grandfather to Maryn, Eitan, Eyal, and Wright. He passed down his love for the ocean and for adventure to his family, and they will proudly carry on his mantle now that he is gone. Even when Steve found his home in Wyoming after retirement, someplace seemingly as far from the ocean as you could get, he still made sure that he could see the Palisades Reservoir from his living room. Something about the gravity of water drew him, and he found a purpose in proximity to it. In the last few years of his life, Steve was able to return to his family and spend meaningful time with his children and grandchildren. He faced the end of his life with determination and perseverance, and when he finally achieved the peace and calm he deserved, he drifted off from this shore and toward the next adventure.