Donald Marion Davidson

Donald Marion Davidson passed away peacefully on July 10, 2020, in his home in Etna, Wyoming. He was 82 years old. Don had a passion for spending time in the great outdoors. He loved, skiing, hunting, and fishing, especially at Jackson Lake. He was admired not only by his friends and family, but also by all those who knew him. He was known for his passion for life, his infectious smile, and his kind and compassionate spirit. He spent the last 23 years of his life enjoying going to the temple on a regular basis. He will be greatly missed.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, July 17th, at noon in the Etna, Wyoming LDS church. There will be a viewing on Thursday, July 16th, from 6-8 pm, and again on July 17th, from 10:30 am to noon prior to services at the Etna, Wyoming LDS church.

Donald Marion Davidson was born on Easter Sunday, April 17th, 1938, to Marion McNeal Davidson and Frances Marguerite Coffin, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He found great pride in being able to claim he was a true Jackson Hole Native, his great grandparents homesteaded in the 1890’s in what is now Grand Teton National Park, near the area of Moosehead Ranch.

He lived in Ogden, Utah, in 1943-1944 while both his parents were employed at Hill Airforce Base, until his father enrolled in the Navy. He and his mother then moved back to Jackson where he went all through school. He said he was always more interested in sports than school.

He started skiing about the same time as he started walking and it came to him as second nature. The manager of Snow King Mountain was his unintended babysitter since the house he grew up in was just 3 houses down from the base of Snow King. The day the lift first opened to the top of the mountain, Don was in the 6th chair.

As a child and youth, he would spend countless hours with his father in a plane flying from Idaho to Pinedale, Wyoming. Don recalled one year that he and his father would bring in supplies due to severe snowpack and weather which caused the road to be closed to and from Jackson for 31 days. They would fly in supplies to town from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Don loved sports. He loved playing sports more than watching sports. He played basketball and football in high school and ski raced when he could, as long as it did not interfere with his basketball. He started pitching fast-pitch softball in the local league when he was in 8th grade. He used to bet that he could throw farther underhand than anyone could overhand. His record was only beaten twice in a 25- year record. He attended the University of Wyoming and ended up on the ski team. In 1957 he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Don started working for the highway department engineers in his sophomore year of high school and worked for them during the summers, until he became sick at college, and then worked for them permanently. He found great joy in building bridges, roads, and creating new avenues to travel. Some of his bragging rights include: Teton Pass, the airport road out of Jackson, and the Alpine bridge near the mouth of Snake River canyon. He eventually retired from WyHy.

In 1961, Don married Janice Marie Ick and was drafted by the U.S. Army, and two weeks later was in Libya in a small unit of 12 men and a helicopter. They were sent there to map out the country and while there, he discovered what it was like to live in a “real” desert. The Army found out that he could pitch softball so they would send a helicopter 200+ miles to pick him up and take him to the airbase at Tripoli to pitch for the Army teams against the Airforce teams from the different units around the area. He returned home from Libya in July of 1963 and went back to work for the highway department of engineers, again.

Don was a member of the Lion’s Club, and Elk’s Club in Jackson. He spent many hours bowling and going to events in their honor.

In 1965, Don and Janice welcomed a baby boy into their family, Lance Michael Davidson, and in 1968 welcomed a baby girl, Bridget Lee Davidson.

Don and Janet divorced in 1986 and remained friends.

Don remarried in 1989 to Charmayne Montague Williams and in 1993 moved to Alpine, Wyoming, to work on the Alpine bridge and where Charmayne was the Alpine city clerk. They were active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were sealed for time and all eternity August 5th, 1995 in the Idaho Falls Idaho temple. Charmayne got sick in December of 1995 and passed away on January 20th, 1996.

In 1998 he married Carol Ann Warren (Burdick) and was married for time in the Idaho Falls Temple. He moved to Etna, Wyoming to Carol’s home where she and her daughter, Wendy, resided. Carol’s husband, Wendell Warren, had passed in October of 1995.

Don had a passion for spending time in the great outdoors. He loved, skiing, hunting, . He was admired not only by his friends and family, but also by all those who knew him. He was known for his passion for life, his infectious smile, and his kind and compassionate spirit. He spent the last 23 years of his life enjoying going to the temple on a regular basis. He will be greatly missed.

Donald is survived by his sister, Marlene Kay Davidson Goe ( Thomas “Tommy” ), - Jackson, Wyoming, his children, Lance Davidson (Albert) -Arizona, Bridget Davidson ( James Duran) -Texas, Rachel Warren- Wyoming, Wendy Clegg (Brent) -Wyoming, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents, two spouses, and one grandchild.