William Russell Davis

William Russell Davis passed away on March 3, 2020, at Trinity Community in Beavercreek, Ohio. William was born on April 5, 1932 in Seattle, Washington to parents William and Barbara (Weigel) Davis. He is survived by his wife Mary C. (Clark) Davis of Kettering, Ohio; son Brad Davis currently of Riyadh, Saudi, Arabia; sister-in-law Joan Terwilliger of Kettering, Ohio; friend and caregiver Carolyn Allard of Enon, Ohio.

William obtained a BS Degree in Military Science at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point and a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology.

At the age of 17, he gained admission to the Military Academy at West Point, boarded a train in Portland, Oregon, and traveled east to New York. He never looked back. Upon graduation from the Academy, he was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force. He spent three years in Munich, Germany between 1955 and 1958 flying the B-26 aircraft. William finished second in his class academically at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. He was among the first to be deployed to Thailand at the beginning of the Vietnam War. He spent three years at Howard AFB in the Canal Zone, Panama, during which time he trained South American pilots in Spanish. From 1967 until his retirement in 1976, he was stationed at Wright Patterson AFB, where he flew the C-130 aircraft and was the Research and Development Director of the Foreign Technology Division, Air Force Systems Command. After retiring from the Air Force with the rank of Colonel, he joined the private sector, working as a contractor for another 15 years, mainly at Eglin AFB in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Colonel William Russell Davis will be laid to rest at West Point Cemetery in West Point, New York.