Josephine “Joey” Davidson
Josephine Davidson
Josephine "Joey" Davidson died in her sleep the morning of December 3, 2006, after spending the previous day with four generations of family members.
Joey was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 13, 1923, the fifth of six siblings. The family moved to Santa Rosa, California, when she was an infant. Joey graduated from Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa and then from the University of California at Berkeley. At Cal she met her roommate's brother, Peter, whom she married in September 1947.
Peter Davidson left for Saudi Arabia in December 1947 and Joey arrived New Year's Day 1952 with her baby, Mary Helene. Jim was born in Dhahran, July 1952, on corner of Kings Road and First Street which is currently the Recreation Office. (Jim is now employed with Saudi Aramco.)
Joey contracted polio in Dhahran in August 1954 while pregnant with Warren who died from the trauma. The family moved to New York for her therapy and Peter continued to worked for Aramco at 505 Park Avenue office.
The Davidson's returned to KSA in April 1959 where Peter worked in Ras Tanura Refinery and the family lived on Surf Avenue. Mary and Jim attended Najmah School. Joey found the wheelchair impossible in Saudi Arabia and the family moved back to New York after six months. The following year Peter transferred to Chevron and moved to Novato, California.
Joey spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. When she wished to return to the classroom in the 1960s, she discovered that it was illegal in the state of California for people with disabilities to teach. She persisted and taught for 23 years in Catholic schools in California and Texas.
After she retired, Joey wrote a bestselling middle-school resource book, Teaching and Dramatizing Greek Myths. She eventually founded her own publishing company, and wrote three more school texts, most notably The Middle School Debater. She worked with friends at her church to compile and publish a large-print hymnal and co-authored with Phyllis Shelley Jesus and People with Disabilities.
Joey and Peter moved to Bellingham, Washington in 1988 where she wrote a column for The Bellingham Herald. In her column, she continued to educate and advocate on behalf of people with disabilities. She also served on city and county advisory panels and commissions and helped with the design of public parks and recreational facilities to ensure that they are accessible, comfortable and usable for people with disabilities.
Survivors are her husband of 59 years, Peter D. Davidson; son James, his spouse Tamara, their children Jesse, Sarah and Tony; daughter Mary H. Mele, her spouse Nicholas, their children Nicco and his spouse Morra, and Peter, his spouse Barbara, and their daughter Sophia Josephine. Her brother John McPhee of Moraga, California; her sister, Virginia Shea of Santa Rosa, California; and sister-in-law Helene Jacoby of Boise, Idaho, and their families, also mourn for Joey.
There will be a vigil for Joey at the funeral home's Bayview Chapel on Lakeway Drive at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, December 6th. Her funeral will be held at Assumption Catholic Church at 10:30 AM on Thursday, December 7th.
Joey expressed a wish that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Interfaith Coalition, 2401 Cornwall Avenue, Bellingham, WA 98225.