Roll Call Tribute

Hillier Funeral Home obituary
2301 E. 29th St.
Bryan, TX 77802
Telephone: (979) 822-1571
Fax: (979) 823-8050
Email: wecare@hillierfh.com

Davis A. Fahlquist
July 16, 1926 - August 22, 2016

Davis A. Fahlquist, a beloved husband, father, friend, and professor at Texas A&M University, a geophysicist and a groundbreaking researcher, has died in Bryan, Texas, from complications of old age.

He celebrated his 90th birthday with family and close friends in July. Davis lived in Bryan with the love of his life of 29 years, Phyllis Fahlquist.

A private funeral service will be held. A celebration of his life will be scheduled at a later date.

Davis was hired by TAMU in 1963 as the lone professor of geophysics in the Geology Department, then later had a joint appointment in the Oceanography and Geophysics Departments. In 1979, he became Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the College of Geosciences, where he was highly regarded for his compassion toward students.

He always enjoyed teaching and was a winner of a TAMU Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in 1992.

He taught at TAMU until 1996, when given emeritus status.

Before coming to TAMU, Davis spent an important part of his career at sea, mapping the geologic formations that lie beneath the ocean floor as a geophysicist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.

He became fascinated with geophysics in the early 1950’s, just as academic research and the military needs of the Cold War were propelling intense interest in mapping the seabed of the oceans, and of more interest to Fahlquist, the rock formations beneath the seabed.

It was a revolution in the understanding of how the earth is formed, and he was excited to be involved.

Davis was to be the Chief Scientist of a research cruise when his research tools and vessel were confiscated by the US Navy to search for the downed Thresher submarine. Don, his son, remembers being at the christening ceremony for Alvin, the famous deep sea diving submersible. His daughter, Lynne, remembers meeting Jacques Cousteau at the dedication of the TAMU Oceanography and Meteorolgy Building; Fahlquist had known Mr. Cousteau many years earlier.

Later in life he talked fondly of ocean expeditions to the Mediterranean Sea where explosives were thrown overboard, the echoes from the bottom providing images previously impossible to obtain. The techniques the researchers developed proved valuable not just to the Navy and academia, but also for commercial uses such as oil drilling.

Davis was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 16, 1926, the son of Dorothy Were Armstrong and Frank Edwin Fahlquist. When he was young, his father was a civil engineer and geologist on large reservoir projects in the U.S. and abroad; which no doubt fueled Davis' interest in the earth sciences.

When World War II began, Davis enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and was sent to the Pacific Theater. He was stationed in Hollandia, New Guinea, where he used his skills to repair machinery in preparation for the U.S. invasion of Japan. Decades later, he remembered his emotions when it was announced that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, ending the war. “It meant I would live,” he said.

Davis went to Brown University on the GI bill, earning a bachelor’s degree in physics (1950), and earned his PhD in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1963).

Davis married Shirley Sanborn in 1952 and they had 5 children: Donald, Lynne, Scott, Lisa and Leigh. Shirley died unexpectedly in 1968. Davis raised his 5 children as a single parent, with the support of many wonderful friends in Bryan-College Station.

Davis married the second love of his life, Phyllis Mendelson, in 1986 and counted her three children, Michael, Joan and Susan, as his own.

Davis was also a humanitarian. He was a strong advocate for minority and women's rights. Upon moving to the south at the time of segregation, he selected the only family doctor in town who would treat African Americans. He worked to improve minority recruitment at TAMU. And he was a member of the League of Women Voters for many years.

A kind and modest man with lifelong friends, he loved talking with his children and grandchildren, including them in his love of travel and a lifelong interest in the natural world.

Davis is preceeded in death by brother Earl (Jane), first wife Shirley, and grandson Ryan.

He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Phyllis Fahlquist, his children Don (Barbara), Lynne (John McCulloch), Scott (Soly), Lisa, (Tommy Lukens), and Leigh (Tara), Michael Mendelson, Joan Mendelson (Dan Stober), and Susan Fogal (Tim); grandchildren Daniel (Brandy), Laura (Jayson Smith), Dena (Ted Kircher), Erin and Caelin Lukens, Anna, Adam, Kate (Rob Tuck), Andrew and Rachel Stober, Benjamin and Adam Fogal; and great-grandchildren Ryan Smith, and Alex and Zoe Tuck.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to local charities such as Brazos Valley Food Bank, local animal shelter or Unitarian Universalist Church of Brazos Valley.
____________________________________________________________________________
(Published in) The (Bryan-College Station) Eagle (on) August 23, 2016

Fahlquist, Davis

Davis Fahlquist, 90, of Bryan, passed away Monday, August 22, 2016.Life Celebration Services have been entrusted to Hillier Funeral Home, Cremation and Bereavement Specialists of Bryan.