Donald Gene Davidson
Dec 7, 1928 - Jan 6, 2024
Posted by Martha Reddout

© Marietta Monitor
12 January 2024,  Page 4 Source: https://www.wattsfuneralhome.com
 

He was born in the Roaring 20s, raised in the Great Depression of the 30s, went to war in the Pacific in the 40s, opened oil fields in Iran in the 50s, helped put man on the moon in the 60s, built communications for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 70s, retired as an oil executive from ARCO in the 80s, raised longhorn cattle in the 90s, and wrote two books after the age of 80 reflecting on his family and life as a member of the Greatest Generation.
 
Don was born December 7, 1928, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to William Edmund Davidson and Mary Pauline (Roller) Davidson. He graduated from Classen High School in Oklahoma City and was married in the First Baptist Church of Ardmore to Patricia Sue (Paschall) Davidson. Don and Pat were married 65 years until her death in 2015. He was a faithful and loving husband, father, family patriarch, and custodian of family papers and genealogical records. His two published books were 'The William E. "Bill" Davidson Family: The Life and Times of a Centenarian and His Family' (2009) and a novel 'Pug, Tug and Me: . . . and Don't Forget Patsye Sue' (2019). He was an avid Letter-to-the-Editor writer and blogger on The View from Grand Ranch: The Ramblings and Ruminations of an Octogenarian. He was an avid reader and occasional contributor to Butch Bridges' This And That Newsletter.
 
Don was an American patriot, serving as a paratrooper in World War II during the occupation of Japan and as an active volunteer in the political process as a lifelong conservative. He was a committed member of the Republican Party serving as a campaign volunteer, precinct chairman, and election judge. He was an enthusiastic gym rat until the age of 94, going to gym three to five days a week. The gym was his second home.
 
Don is survived by his only child, Gregory Scott Davidson, and his daughter-in-law, Donna Garcia Davidson, and his only grandchild, Mary Grace Davidson, all of Austin, Texas. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Rowena Davidson, and numerous nephews, nieces, grandnephews, and grandnieces. He was laid to rest in a family plot alongside his father-in-law, John Bertram "Bert" Paschall, with whom he shared a lifelong bond. Bert and his wife Mabel built Two Lakes Skyway Courts off the southeast corner of Lake Murray in the 1940s that became known as Paschall Village and later Mom and Pops. Don and Bert were close companions who hunted ducks and quail, trained bird dogs, and masterminded many escapades along Hickory and Pumpkin Creeks looking for mysterious caches of gold and treasure. Don often said Bert was a second father to him.
 
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be given to the American Heart Association. Expressions of sympathy may be sent to Flanagan-Watts Funeral home in Marietta, Oklahoma.

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