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Howard V. C. Davis was born in Tennessee in 1916. In Rye his family lived at Guion Road and were members of the Presbyterian Church. Howard served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
Lieut. Howard V. C. Davis, Coastal Air Patrol, is home on leave. Mrs. Davis and their small son returned with him last week to their home on Guion Road. They passed much of the winter near New Orleans.
Friday, Juno 11, 1943 THE RYE CHRONICLE PAGE SEVEN
After graduating with honors from the Thacher School in Ojai, Calif. , he became a 1st Lt. in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II and was awarded an Air Medal for meritorious achievement from President Harry Truman.
Howard Van Cortlandt Davis (1916 - 2012) died Sunday, May 13 at 7:47 a.m. in his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz., shortly before his 96th birthday.
Born Orrie Vaughn on June 9, 1916, in Etowah, Tenn., he was adopted by Nellie Day Voorheis Davis and David James Davis and grew up in the historic Lane's End home in Rye, N.Y.
After graduating with honors from the Thacher School in Ojai, Calif., he became a 1st Lt. in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II and was awarded an Air Medal for meritorious achievement from President Harry Truman.
He returned to Westchester County, N.Y., where he worked as a photographer, and was a pioneer in stroboscopic photography (capturing stop action from a cycle of multiple flashes) and created the first stroboscopic photographs of a helicopter in vertical flight for the Sikorsky Aircraft Company. His photos were the first of this type and were published in Fortune Magazine in 1945. In addition to editorial photography, he also performed commercial and industrial photography for a variety of companies.
He spent many summers fishing and boating in the lakeside community of Glenburnie-On-Lake George in the Adirondack region of New York. He was the owner of the historic Charlemont Inn, overseeing its renovation while the Thunder Mountain Ski area was being developed in Charlemont, Mass. He was later responsible for fundraising millions of dollars for Fordham University in New York.
In the mid-70's he lived in Saratoga, Wyo. where he became the mayor and was responsible for the expansion of the airport and sponsorship of a new airport terminal. He was an avid pilot who enjoyed flying small planes.
While living in Arizona, he served on the board of directors for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and Arizona Heart Association. He was pre-deceased by three wives: Dorothea Crigler Davis, Mildred Schofield Davis, and Amazon Kerr Rooks Davis and a son Cortland (Corky) Davis.
He is survived by three children: Jon H. Davis, of Nyack, N. Y., Susan Davis Eley, of New York City, and Robert Davis, of Eden Prairie, Minn.
His grandchildren are Amie Delles, Jonathan Davis, Rachael Davis, and Xian Eley.
Howard V.C. Davis will be remembered as a caring, good-natured, and gracious man, who followed his heart, maintaining his optimistic spirit, sense of humor, and passion for music until the end of his life. A memorial service will be held in Rye, N.Y., at a later date.
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