John Clement Davis III, known to many as Jock, was born on April 5, 1935, in Norwalk, Connecticut, and spent most of his 90 years in Harpswell, Maine. He passed away peacefully, though unexpectedly, on April 7 at Maine Medical Center, surrounded by his loving family. Just two days earlier, he had celebrated his 90th birthday with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, enjoying an enormous plate of blueberry pie and chocolate cake.
Jock grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut, the eldest child of John Clement Davis and Priscilla Hazelton Davis. Raised in a sailing family alongside his sisters, Joel and Jennifer, he spent his childhood exploring the New England coast aboard the schooner Malabar III.
He married Sally Patten in 1963, and together they raised their three children: Brinna, Galen, and Micah. He retired from a 25-year teaching career at Brunswick High School, where he taught math, physics, chemistry and computer science, in 1995.
His deep love of all things Maine began in childhood summers on Isle au Haut, where his grandparents built a cottage in 1911. It was in Moore’s Harbor in 1997 that he met Elizabeth Allerton Marshall, and together they became cruising companions, sailing up and down the coast aboard his H-28, Summer Song. Their voyages became family adventures following the birth of their daughter, Rose, in 2001.
Jock graduated from Bowdoin College in 1957 after attending the Loomis School in Windsor, Connecticut. He also earned his Master of Arts in mathematics at Bowdoin. He served as a language specialist with the U.S. Army in Germany and spent college summers working construction with Boyce & Catlin and striking sets at the Brunswick Summer Theatre, work that sparked a lifelong passion for building.
In 1961, while looking for land to settle on, Emily Moody agreed to sell him an acre on Mill Pond in Harpswell. At 28, Jock began building the house on Basin Point Road where he would live for the last 50 years of his life.
Jock loved the outdoors and he loved to work: hauling logs, splitting firewood, tending birds, spreading seaweed in the garden, or milling steam engines in his machine shop. He connected to the people he loved by doing. Basin Cove Farm blossomed under his care, with his planting of many acorns, fruit trees and blueberries, and a thriving family venture, Rose’s Duck Eggs. Greeting customers in the driveway became one of his favorite activities in his later years.
Jock gave generously to his community. He served for two decades as an ambulance driver with Harpswell Neck Fire and Rescue, donated blood faithfully and was always ready to help neighbors — whether pumping out a flooded basement, knocking down a fire or tilling a garden. In 2003 he helped to found the Harpswell Community Nursery School (now called the Harpswell Nature School), the first early childhood education program in town.
Jock is remembered for his unique sense of humor, his work ethic and strong moral compass, all of which live on in his family and the community he helped shape. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his sister, Jennifer Sawyer; his children, Brinna (Frank), Galen (Tom), Micah (Tenley), and Rose; grandchildren, Isaac (Meghan), Zephyr (Tony), and Cyrus (Lexi) Dworsky, Finn and Dell Davis-Batt, and Lula, Teo, and Hank Davis; great-grandchildren, Selah Dworsky, Goldie Dworsky, and Calder Bustamante; and a close-knit group of cousins.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Harpswell Nature School — Scholarship Fund, 917 Harpswell Neck Road, Harpswell, ME 04079.
A celebration of his life will be held at the Elijah Kellogg Church on May 24 at 11 a.m. at the same address.
