Diplomat, activist, athlete, great-grandmother

Elizabeth Creese Davis died on April 4 in Pomona, peacefully and at home.

Mrs. Davis was born in New York, NY on December 12, 1931 to James Creese, then vice president of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, and Margaret Morton Creese. After her early years living on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology, in 1945 the family moved to Philadelphia, where her father was president of Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University).

She graduated from the Baldwin School in 1950, and from Oberlin College in 1954, majoring in government and international relations. She then returned to the Philadelphia area and taught mathematics at the Shipley School.

In November 1956, Mrs. Davis married Nathaniel Davis, a U.S. Foreign Service officer and long-time family friend. Together, they served at U.S. embassies in Venezuela, Bulgaria, Guatemala, Chile, and Switzerland. When stationed in Washington, D.C., they chose to live in the city, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. She was active in the Foggy Bottom Association (the local civic association), promoting community connections, local parks and services, and community preservation in response to a planned highway. In the early 1960s, Mrs. Davis founded a local fair housing association which subsequently became part of a citywide effort, and was active in the Civil Rights movement (including attending the 1963 March on Washington). Abroad, she was active in embassy affairs and in community matters, regularly serving in a leadership role for the American community in each country.

After their last foreign posting, Mrs. Davis lived for several years in Newport, RI, where her husband was on the faculty of the Naval War College. In 1983, the Davises moved to Claremont, where Nathaniel became a professor at Harvey Mudd College, teaching international relations, Russian and Soviet history, and other subjects related to his experience in the Foreign Service. Together, they took students to the Soviet Union and Russia each summer, promoting cross-cultural interactions and learning. They spent two sabbaticals in Moscow in 1990 and 1996-97. While in Moscow, Mrs. Davis taught conversational English to adults and at a local university. In the mid-1980s, in Claremont, she was a founder and long-time active leader in the Claremont Association for Mutual American-Soviet Understanding. She was regularly invited to speak on Soviet and Russian affairs and culture.

Mrs. Davis continued to participate in civic and community affairs, always an advocate for justice and informed discussion. She became politically active with the Claremont Democratic Club and other political organizations. In her later years, she served as an observer of municipal governance, providing reporting on local affairs for the League of Women Voters, and dedicated her efforts to promote environmental sustainability and stewardship at her church and in the community. Mrs. Davis continued registering voters of all political persuasions well into her nineties.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Davis participated in sports: mountain climbing, winter mountaineering, skiing, hiking, camping, and white-water canoeing, both with friends and her family. She summited peaks in the Adirondacks, the Rockies, the Alps and the Andes. At age 41, in response to challenging arthritis symptoms, she developed a vigorous exercise program that kept the arthritis mostly in remission for the rest of her life. She continued working out at the gym multiple days per week until just days before her death. The mountains and woods, particularly those around her family’s vacation home in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, were a constant presence and, in addition to her family and friends, a central joy in her life.

Mrs. Davis also traveled widely and spoke Spanish, French, Russian, and, for a while, Bulgarian.

Mrs. Davis is survived by her brother, Thomas M. Creese; her children Margaret D. Mainardi (Edward Mainardi), Helen M. Davis, James C. Davis (Linda D. Davis), and Thomas R. Davis (Wayne E. Beitler); five nieces and nephews; eight grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and many other loving relatives.

A memorial service was held April 24 at Mt. San Antonio Gardens in Pomona. Interment will be on August 1 in the Norton Cemetery in Keene, NY, next to Nathaniel.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Adirondack Mountain Club at adk.org/product/donation-1; Keene Valley Library at keenevalleylibrary.org (in the absence of a comment line, please finish your donation with 94 cents so memorial donations can be identified); or by check to Mt. San Antonio Gardens College Scholarship Fund made out to “Congregational Homes, Inc.” with “Scholarships/Liz Davis” in the memo line, mailed to 900 E. Harrison Ave., Pomona, CA 91767.