Richard K. “Dick” Davies passed away in Santa Barbara on January 3, 2022. He was 92 years old. He was preceded in death by his widowed twin sister, Louise Harper, who died two years ago and with whom he had lived in the Encina Royale complex in Goleta since 2009. Dick is survived by Louise’s four children, who are his three nephews and a niece, as well as a grandnephew, a grandniece, and two great-grandnephews.
Dick was an elegant, intelligent, charming and witty man, with a quiet and unassuming personality. He was generous with friends and family and a supporter of liberal causes and political candidates.
Dick was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington, during the Great Depression. He was 12 years old when his father, a naval officer, was a participant in the major battles of the first year of the Pacific war, and the family feared for their father’s safety. Later in the war Dick, his sister and mother joined his father at a posting for a year in San Diego.
Dick was a piano prodigy. He attended Lewis and Clark College, where he trained to be a classical pianist, and won various performance competitions on the West Coast. On graduation, though, he decided to forego the life of a traveling musician, and pursued a career in the insurance industry. He worked in Portland, Oregon, then in the Washington, DC area, and finally in Pittsburgh, where he retired and lived for many years before moving to Goleta in 2009.
Music remained an important part of his life. With his good friend Mary Ella in Pittsburgh, and later with his sister Louise in Santa Barbara, Dick was a regular patron of symphony, opera, and other musical performances. He liked to travel, making good use of timeshares in Mexico and elsewhere, and was a frequent visitor to relatives in Juneau, Alaska, and Durham,
North Carolina.
He was a beloved uncle to Louise’s four children, who will miss him.
In this time of COVID, no public memorial service will be held. The family is thankful to all of Dick’s many friends who brightened his life. Comments and memories can be sent to the family by email to uncledickdavies@gmail.com.
