Well-loved coach and teacher mourned

The Downeast community is mourning the loss of a well-loved coach, teacher, referee and natural athlete who spent decades mentoring and inspiring student athletes at Shead High School. The passing of Bobby Davis of Perry, who died unexpectedly on January 9 at the age of 69, is being felt not only at Shead but throughout Washington County.

"It's a big loss to the community," says Paul Theriault, a former Shead principal who recalls Davis as one of his best friends. "People just gravitated to him. People loved him. He was larger than life. Everybody around the county knew him."

He was particularly well liked at Shead, where he had devoted 34 years as a physical education teacher, coach and athletic administrator. During that time he shaped the lives of hundreds of students with his dedication, passion for sports and his belief in them.

The saying "once a Tiger, always a Tiger" applied to Davis, who had been a star basketball player for the Shead Tigers. In 1974, his senior year, the team had won the eastern Maine championship, with Davis leading the Tigers, scoring 37 points in the final game, even though he was very ill at the time. "That makes it even more amazing what he did," says Theriault.

After graduating from college, he coached boys soccer, baseball, softball and girls basketball teams at Shead. During his tenure as coach, the Tigerettes were in the eastern Maine tournament every year, a real powerhouse team, and both of his daughters, Laura and Samantha, were key players for the Shead team. He poured his heart into the sports programs, loved his players and pushed them to make them better. Another close friend, Glynn Urquhart, says Davis was "an institution" at Shead, as he guided generations of Tigers. As the phys ed teacher, "he shaped a lot of lives. He had connections with the students and around the county," Theriault observes.

"He was down-to-earth and well liked and was definitely a big supporter of Shead," says Walter Cummings, who also was a friend of Davis. He notes that Davis inspired "a lot of kids" to play sports. "He encouraged them to play 100%, and he was very effective at that. He had a tremendous way of combining competitiveness with sportsmanship," says Cummings, adding, "He had an extremely competitive edge but not to the point of being overbearing." Students and players, who still called him Mr. Davis years after they had graduated, respected him as a mentor and leader.

Davis served nearly 50 years as a basketball referee and earned respect throughout the region. Cummings recalls refereeing many basketball games with Davis, including in the days when there were highly competitive match-ups in the county, like those between Calais and Woodland, and the gyms would be packed full with fans. "Doing those competitive games with Bobby was a highlight of our refereeing careers."

Davis also participated in many sports, and Cummings remembers playing with Davis on Eastport Lobster baseball teams when there were eight to 10 teams in the county. Urquhart notes that for 60 years they played on the same teams or competed against each other -- from baseball and basketball to golf and pool. They started out in Little League and then on sports teams "all the way through."

"If you were playing or at a party, he was the life of it," says Urquhart, noting that Davis was very outgoing. "He never had a down side. He was a pretty upbeat person -- one of a kind. If you knew him, you liked him."

"He was always one to crack a joke -- all good-natured. If he could get a rise out of you, he would," Theriault says. "He had an opinion about everything. He thought things should be a certain way, and he didn't mind letting people know they should be a certain way."

Davis also helped run the land sports over the Fourth of July in Eastport for many years and volunteered for a recreational peewee basketball program that included a number of area towns.

Cummings says what he respected most about Davis was his devotion to his family -- his wife Peggy, daughters Laura and Samantha and grandchildren.

"I never heard anybody speak badly about Bobby," Cummings says. "He will be missed by many."