JAFFREY — Richard “Dick” Davis Jr. 75, of Jaffrey died April 21, 2010, at his home after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He had been surrounded by the love and support of his family throughout all of his challenges.

Dick was born in Jaffrey on Feb. 27, 1935, son of the late Richard and Rosealma (Duval) Davis.
He was a 1953 graduate of Murdock High School in Winchendon, Mass.

Dick joined the U.S. Army in 1954 and was stationed overseas, where he served in the occupation of Germany. In 1956, he was stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas and then in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he served as a mountain climbing instructor to the Special Forces.

In 1957 he was discharged from the Army and then, instead of trying to find work in a difficult economy, he enlisted with the U.S. Air Force and continued to serve his country from 1958 to 1974. While in the Air Force, Dick was stationed in Germany again and this time spent four years there.

In his free time overseas, Dick played international soccer with the People to People program founded by President Eisenhower. Later, Dick was handpicked to go to Pakistan, where he was assigned to the American Embassy and he performed worldwide long-range nuclear detection while working closely with the foreign ministry. This included the time during 1965 when the India-Pakistan war broke out. Dick had also been stationed briefly in Vietnam and in Thailand where he supervised the Strategic Air Command and various Command Post Operations before retiring from the Air Force.

After his military career, Dick lived in California and managed hotels and convention center activities and day-to-day business in the food service, lodging and entertainment venues. Dick then ventured into the construction trade in California before moving back home to Jaffrey in 1987, where he would marry Marlene Beauvais on May 29, 1988.

Dick was instrumental in getting the new Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 5613 home built on Route 202 in Jaffrey. It opened in the fall of 2000. He sacrificed almost all he had accumulated through the years and even volunteered his time as its manager while it was growing and becoming the establishment it is today. Building from the success of the VFW facility, he also became the manager at the American Legion Post No. 11 in Jaffrey for six years, where he designed and built the gazebo and gathering area in the backyard of the Legion.

Dick was a lifetime member of the Air Force Sergeants Association; a lifetime member and Past Commander of VFW Post No. 5613 in Jaffrey, past commander and member of Post No. 11 American Legion of Jaffrey, lifetime member of Post No. 38 American Legion of Fitzwilliam; he was a past district commander of the American Legion District 1 in New Hampshire and a member of the 40 & 8, the organization for leaders of the American Legion.

Dick had also been involved with the Jaffrey-Rindge VFW Memorial Ambulance Service when it was run as a volunteer service. He had been a member and past president of the Jaffrey-Rindge Lions Club.

Dick enjoyed playing golf and loved working in his flower gardens at home. He took great pride in his lawns and always kept his beloved companion, Val, his Black Lab, close by his side.

Dick is survived by his wife of 22 years, Marlene (Beauvais) Davis of Jaffrey; his two daughters, Kirsten Davis and her husband, Robert Krueger, and Deirdre Conroy and her husband, Ron; his son, Richard D. Davis III and his wife, Tara; three granddaughters, Danielle, Brittney and Kelsey; three grandsons, Mark, Sam and Alan, all of California; one stepdaughter, Linda Dubois, and her husband, Bernie, of Jaffrey and one stepson, Michael Niemela, and his wife, Mary, of Maryland; four step-grandchildren, Shawn, Jessica, Erin and Wesley; one step-great-granddaughter, Naya; a sister, Sandra Stowell, and her husband, Jet, of Northampton, Mass.; three brothers, Terry Davis and his wife, Carole, of Frankfort, N.Y., Glenn Davis and his wife, Ingrid, of Surprise, Ariz., and Roger Davis of Fitzwilliam; one brother-in-law, Leo Beauvais of Dennisport, Mass., one sister-in-law, Bette Ascani of Peterborough, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and close friends throughout the community and the Legion and VFW families.

Family and friends are warmly invited to calling hours, which will be held at Dick’s home-away-from-home, the Jaffrey VFW hall, 232 Hathorn Road, just off Route 202 in Jaffrey on Monday, April 26, from 4 to 7 p.m.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, April 27, at 11 a.m. at the VFW hall.
Burial will take place on Wednesday, April 28, at 2 p.m. in the N.H. State Veteran Cemetery in Boscawen with full military honors.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Helping Hand Center Food Pantry, 1 Depot St., Troy 03465

To share a memory of Dick or to send a condolence to his family, please visit www.cournoyerfh.com.