Douglas Davison

Douglas Gordon Davison

1925-2025

In his 100th year and on the 3rd anniversary of his beloved wife Barbara’s passing, Doug Davison chose to end his life with MAID on March 19. Together for 72 years, married for 68, they were inseparable, she the outgoing, talkative, irrepressible spirit who kept family and friends up-to-date on everything; he the stoic, patient rock urging her to “Calm down!” He chose not to keep going without his faculties after Barbara’s slow decline due to Alzheimer’s disease that took her in 2022. Suffering from heart problems, deteriorating eyesight, cracked ribs from altercations with escalators and walkers, he chose his time to go. Because family and friends knew of his decision, many were able to say goodbye. Surrounded by sons George, Jim and Rob, their partners Dawn, Kim and Lynn, and grandchildren Tom (home from Australia with 8 -month pregnant Emily at home) and Gillian (Sam), the last few days were difficult, but a chance to relive memories of happier times. He will be dearly missed by his other grandchildren, Jordan (Whitehorse), Brock and Mackenzie (Prince George), many friends and relatives. RIP.

Douglas Gordon was born in Hamilton, Ontario on August 29, 1925, the youngest son of George Thomas and Elsie Irene (Williams) Davison. He grew up in a middle-class home during the Depression, his Mother “feeding tramps at the back door” and his Dad calling a hostel to book a bed for a stranger. The kids played cowboys and Indians on the escarpment and got penny candy at Cravens Drug Store at Sherman & Main. His Dad loved fishing, and with Mother, Alan and Irene, the family spent summer vacations all over the near north: one of Doug’s earliest recollections was a trip to Burlington Beach in ’27 and, in 1930, a 10-hour train trip to Huntsville. That same year, a 5 cent coin stuck in his trachea, cutting off air, and a special tool was improvised to remove it – for years the nickel was on display at Hamilton General Hospital. Doug joined the Boys Brigade and Air Cadets, was a Globe and Mail carrier with 110 customers in 1939 (he was paid 2 cents per paper per week or $13.20), and after graduating from Central Collegiate in June 1943, enlisted in the RCAF (K291089). He did his basic training in Montreal in the fall of ’43 and in January ’44 was stationed at No. 1 AGT (Aircrew Graduate Training) school in Maitland, Nova Scotia. For years, he said his wartime experience was washing dishes, but more recently said his main job after D-Day was getting the four Halifax newspapers every day and plotting the allied advance on a huge map in the base library.

After the war, he enrolled in McMaster University, was on the football team, but Chemistry was not for him. He briefly worked as a car salesman for Sellens & Dotzenrod at $25 per week, but after only 1 sale in a few months, he was fired. In 1947, too, his folks bought a cottage at Fox Point on Lake of Bays that needed considerable work before a road or electricity was in: Doug spent many of the best times of his life at the cottage, which he inherited after his Dad passed in 1979.

He joined Bell Canada in 1949 worked on line crews, stringing wires north of Hamilton, between Sudbury and the Sault. He met Barbara Hewitt at a Bell party in Orillia in 1950. They were married in the Presbyterian Church in Orillia on September 26, 1953. They lived with his folks for a while on Blake St. in Hamilton before getting an apartment on the Mountain. George was born in October 1955, and they moved into their first house, 382 Delaware, in Burlington – it cost $12,500. Along came James in March 1957 and Robert in May 1958. Doug was a barber shopper, Man of the Year in the early 60s, so harmony and classical music was always present. Barbara herded three little boys at home and taught Sunday School. Doug had two-week holidays, usually spent at the cottage after hay fever season and the black flies & mosquitos had died down. From the Hamilton toll central office, Doug transferred to head office in Montreal in 1965, commuting weekly for many months, the family following in January 1966, settling on 50 20th Ave in Deux Montagnes (Two Mountains) at the end of the commuter line north of Montreal. These were exciting times in Montreal, with the rise of the FLQ but also Expo 67: the family had season passes and welcomed everyone throughout the summer of ’67. They were on Parliament Hill welcoming Queen Elizabeth on July 1.

As the political situation in Quebec worsened, Bell moved its head office personnel to Ottawa in 1968. The family moved to 600 Noble Crescent, Riverside Park South near Mooney’s Bay – it cost $29,500. The boys went to Fielding Drive Public, Brookfield High, Carleton and the U of Ottawa over the next years. Bell organized a trip to Britain, Wales and Ireland in 1969, and Doug and Barb were joined by brother Al and sister-in-law Barbara on their first taste of international travel. That led to more trips to Britain, Scotland, Europe (a Baltic cruise), several Alaska cruises, several trips to Newfoundland (to see icebergs), to Churchill, Manitoba, to California, Costa Rica, almost annual winter trips to Florida, and visits to wherever Rob, Jim and George were in Alberta and BC. And always, long summers at the cottage on Lake of Bays, entertaining family and friends, playing bridge and “65” with nickels. “Lady Barbara” and “The Godfather” enjoyed a special relationship with the Timms family, especially Goddaughter Sarah.

Doug was seconded from Bell to the Trans Canada Telephone System in the 80s, which saw him travel for work across Canada. When he retired in October 1987, he’d worked for Bell for 38 years. His retirement was 38 years too! In 1994, they moved from Noble Crescent to a nearby townhouse on Owl Drive, a happy place for Barbara to knit socks, toques, tea cozies and hook rugs, and for Doug to enjoy crosswords and suduko puzzles. When Barbara’s health began to fail, they moved in 2018 to Forestview Retirement home in Toronto, close to Jim and Kim’s and grandchildren Tom and Gillian. They were stalwarts at the Hewitt family’s annual Christmas gathering, first rotating through families from the mid-50s to the mid-80s, then lunches at the Canadiana Restaurant that are still going strong. Not many of his generation is left, though sister Irene just turned 101, and sisters-in-law Janet and Martha are still with us! Doug managed to stick around for his grandchildren’s weddings in 2024, and to spend time at the old cottage before it was torn down in September 2023 - he was able to enjoy the new “cottage” in 2024. It had been a very good life, but it was time to go. RIP.

A Celebration of Life will be held on March 22, 2025 from 2:00-5:00pm

At Ward’s Funeral Home, Weston Chapel, 2035 Weston Rd., Toronto