Susan Rae Davis

Susan was born in 1948 in Salem, Oregon. The daughter of an Air Force test pilot, Susan traveled the globe in her youth, living in Germany, France, England, and across the United States. She enjoyed her time in Scotland, where she wore a kilt and developed a Scottish brogue, much to everyone's delight. She loathed her time in Texas. She attended Kubasaki High on Okinawa, where she was a member of the "Powder Puff" girls football team.

Susan double majored in journalism and political science at the University of Washington. While there, she met Don Davis at a pool party. When her parents told her they could no longer fund her education and suggested she drop out, she would have none of it. She secured work and paid the rest of her way on her own.

Upon graduating in 1969, Susan worked for the Associated Press for a year before she set her sights on broadcast journalism. She was initially rebuffed, being told by one major Seattle TV station that "we already have one woman on the air."

Susan married Don in 1970 and moved to Spokane with him. While Don attended law school, she worked as a TV reporter, first for KXLY-TV and then for KHQ-TV. They lived frugally during these years, regularly eating corned beef and vegetables from tin cans.

Susan grew dissatisfied with TV journalism. In her words, "there was a tendency to cover fluff, to not dig into the tougher, meatier stories." She moved back to Seattle, where she attended the University of Puget Sound School of Law, graduating in 1977. Susan dedicated her legal career to helping others and telling their stories. She excelled in court.

In 1986, Susan became the first woman in the state, and only the second in the country, to serve as President of the state's trial lawyers association (then known as the "Washington State Trial Lawyers Association"). The following year, she founded The Davis Firm with Don. She practiced law out of their Ballard Avenue office for the next two decades, securing important legal victories in the fields of products liability, food sanitation, and workplace safety. Despite her accomplishments, Susan disliked the conflicts inherent in trial practice. She retired early with Don in 2005.

Never a couch potato, Susan devoted her retirement to music. She picked up slide guitar, took vocal lessons, and performed at the Hard Rock Cafe. She faithfully served as caretaker for Don, who lived with Alzheimer's for a decade until he passed in 2021. Even then, Susan persevered.

She rebuilt her life through The Florabundas Garden Club and the Green Lake dog walkers' group.

Both groups warmly welcomed her and Jack, her beloved Aussie. She attended local concerts. She summered on Orcas Island. She traveled to Japan. She embraced her grandchildren. And she adored Bonnie Raitt, whose music comforted her through the end.

Susan is survived by her two children, Gavin and Bo; her younger brother, Bob; and by Gavin's wife, Jennifer, who became in effect a second daughter.

In life, Susan was known by different names, including "Susie" as a child, "Susan" as an adult, and "Amma" by her grandchildren. But she was never "Mrs. Davis."

A Memorial and Committal Service will be held at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home & Cemetery on August 1, 2026, at 10:00 am.