IRVINGTON—On March 24, 2023, Dr. Solon Edward “Ed” Davis III died with his daughter by his side in Richmond.
Ed was a uniquely gentle, kind soul who genuinely cared for his patients, friends, and most of all, his family. He so deeply loved his wife, Anne Robinson Davis, who died in 2018 just before their 60th wedding anniversary.
Ed is survived by his sister-in-law, Paula Robinson Spraker of Richmond; his son, Edward (Michele LaRocca) Davis of Tilghman Island, MD; his son, Stuart (Marjorie Goon) Davis of McLean; his grandchildren, Tyler and Jade Davis; his daughter, Anne Meredith (Harry C. Lamberton III) Lamberton of Houston, TX; and his grandchildren Clay, Davis and Mason Lamberton. Ed is also survived by his nephews, David (Ann Doyle) Spraker and their daughters, Dabney and Mary Katherine of Dallas, TX, and Stephen (Kelly Dalch) Spraker and their two sons, Talbot and Charlie of Richmond.
Born in Nashville in 1934, Ed attended the Peabody Demonstration School and then Vanderbilt University where he studied math as an undergraduate and a graduate student. While in his junior year at Harvard Medical School, he met and married his beloved Anne who was attending nearby Wellesley.
As a perinatologist and endocrinologist, Ed always gave his home telephone number to his patients and thus was one of the earliest subscribers to call waiting. After completing his research fellowship and residencies at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), Ed spent his career caring for patients and directing maternal-fetal medicine at many hospitals, including MCV, National Naval and Walter Reed Army Medical Centers (DC), and Overlook, Robert Wood Johnson, Morristown and lastly, Hackensack (NJ). He served as an Army captain and a physician stationed in Fort Hood, TX, and fondly remembered taking Anne on many dates to nearby Austin.
Ed loved teaching residents at MCV, USUS and UMDNJ, researching weekly at NIH, and serving on the faculty at MCV and RWJ Medical Schools. His Five Principles for Residents were highly entertaining, insightful and readily applied to his family and friends. For example, Rule #1) If you live long enough, you will be lied to … which he recently translated as, “Question everything–especially if the information is an outlier.”
A researcher at heart, Ed was well-published alongside numerous MCV and NIH colleagues with whom he kept up until his death.
A true Renaissance man, Ed was always ahead of his time—building computers in the 70s, learning computer programming languages for fun, woodworking, playing piano, singing in church choirs, creating Japanese water gardens with Koi fish, cooking Sichuanese, Vietnamese and Thai cuisines (well before it was trendy), and eating sushi regularly, including during his last hospital stay. Chef Ed loved to cook ample amounts of Asian food and encouraged spirited table conversations/arguments, especially when he could slip in a lecture or two.
After retirement, Anne and Ed fully embraced their new home and community at the River in Weems. After losing Anne suddenly in 2018, Ed lived his final years at Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury (RWC) in Irvington. There he listened to Great Courses, revisited calculus and physics, and remained a voracious reader. Ed appreciated history and loved war strategy and military generals—their personalities, character deficits and chosen tactics. Committed to supporting Amazon, Ed recently ordered and read Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe, written by a fellow Phi Beta Kappa.
Anne and Ed were lifelong members, elders, Sunday School teachers and strong supporters of the Presbyterian Church, beginning with their marriage ceremony officiated by the Presbyterian luminary, George A. Buttrick, in the Appleton Chapel on Harvard’s campus.
Later as they relocated along the East Coast, Anne and Ed attended St. Giles and Second Presbyterian (Richmond), Bradley Hills Presbyterian (MD), Basking Ridge and Nassau Presbyterian (NJ), Madison Avenue Presbyterian (NYC) and Grace Episcopal Church (Kilmarnock). In his last years, Ed faithfully, and with great relish, attended Fourth Presbyterian Church (Chicago, IL) online for Sunday services and Friday Music noonday concerts – attending a flute concert the day he died. Ed’s remains will be interred with Anne’s in the Memorial Garden at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock. Memorial donations may be made in Ed’s name to RWC-Foundation in Irvington, Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock, or Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL. Please send condolences to Meredith Lamberton at 14331 Chadbourne Drive, Houston, TX, 77079, or at amlamberton@me.com.
Ed’s children would like to thank RWC-Irvington and Memorial Regional Medical Center-Mechanicsville for their father’s extraordinary care. These physicians, nurses and staff cared for him as their own. Dr. Bryant and his RWC team treated Ed with profound respect, daily compassion and incredible dignity. Ed will be greatly missed, but how joyful he must be to at last be reunited with his beloved Anne.
