Donald R. Davies

Donald Richard Davies, 57, of Montville, Connecticut, passed away on September 28, 2026. Donald leaves behind his wife and best friend, Lisa Davies; his daughter, Tori Davies; and his sons, Garrett and Connor Zarrella.

He is also survived by his brother, Joseph Davies; sisters Susan Smith and Gail McIlwain and her husband Mike; aunt Joan Palladino; father-in-law Dennis DeMots and sisters-in-law Rachel DeMots and her husband Aaron and Nicole Tosun and her husband, Brent, as well as many neices and nephews including an especially close relationship with his niece Dana Champagne and his nephew Kevin McIlwain.

Donald was predeceased by his brother, Edward Davies Jr.; his sister, Kathy Harris; his parents, Edward and Dorothy Davies; and his mother-in-law, Dorothy DeMots.

Donald grew up in Montville, where some of his happiest memories began. As a kid, he played just about every town and recreation sport he could, but football was definitely his passion. He had fond memories of his Pee Wee football games at Camp Oakdale and Friday nights at Montville High School. He had lots of stories about those days and if you knew Donald for any length of time, there is a pretty good chance you heard about the time they played, and lost, the '85 state championship game - in the snow. A topic that is still wildly debated and too painful for some to discuss.

It was during these childhood years that he met the love of his life, Lisa DeMots. They began as friends, cracking each other up and/or annoying one another, became highschool sweethearts, making and breaking each other's hearts and eventually ended up as soulmates some 40 years later.

After high school, Donald joined the United States Army, an experience he remained incredibly proud of throughout his life. Stationed in Germany and serving as a Motor Transport Operator, he had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe and formed friendships that lasted a lifetime.

Donald later spent 20 years working for the Connecticut Department of Correction. It was a difficult job, but, as seemed to happen wherever Donald went, he came away from those years with some true friendships and some crazy stories!

He was fiercely loyal (standing up for you even if he secretly thought you were wrong), patient, sentimental, kind -hearted, extremely funny and PUNCTUAL. In his world, you were late if you weren't 10 mins early. A philosophy not shared by his wife, this was an ongoing battle of wills throughout their 17 year marriage.

He was nostalgic to a fault, occasionally bordering on hoarder territory, because throwing away something with a memory attached to it was out of the question.

He had a love-hate relationship with his Raiders - always holding onto hope until midway through the season then throwing in his jersey... but only until next season, cause they could always make a come back. A perfect Sunday might find him preparing something in the crockpot while watching football, usually accompanied by a day-long, ball-busting, friendship-testing group text with Kevin and Joseph. Later, there might be some early-evening fishing off the rock and, of course, a fire. He didn't necessarily need to be sitting next to it, but a fire absolutely needed to be burning.

Over the years, Donald even came to enjoy and appreciate the mandatory, chaotic extended-family vacations (with the exception perhaps of the ill-fated Wisconsin Dells adventure - IYKYK) But some of his most treasured travels were the road trips he took with his Road Dogs, Lisa and Connor. Northern California and Colorado were among his favorites.

It was the ordinary moments with his family that meant the most to him. He looked forward to taking Tori to Mohegan Sun games and out for lobsta during her visits to Connecticut. He took great pride in teaching Garrett how to PROPERLY back into a parking space and he treasured his guys' days with his best bud Connor, especially their trips to the Salmon River.

He enjoyed his practice runs with Garrett and to this day is convinced that his knowledge of the PROPER way to back- in park is what cinched Garrett’s passing score on his driver's test. But it gives us great comfort to know he is with family and friends who have crossed over. He is at peace and will be by our sides forever