Jack C. Davis: First president of Western Nevada Community College dies

Jack C. Davis, the first president of Western Nevada College, died of complications from pneumonia Saturday night.

Davis, for whom the observatory at WNC is named after, was 83.

Davis was born Nov. 22, 1925, in San Diego. After high school, he joined the Merchant Marine during WWII. In 1950, he joined the Veterans College Program at the University of Nevada in Reno, and earned a bachelor's degree from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Davis played on the university's football team from 1947 to 1949. He also lettered in boxing. After he graduated, he became one of the top athletic officials for high school sports in Northern Nevada.

Davis' son, Greg Davis of Carson City, remembered his father as a man of great integrity.

"Whether it was the World Boxing Council, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the college or just being a father, he was always straight-forward and his integrity never wavered," Davis said. "He was always willing to take the time to go the extra mile to help people out."

He said a story about his father took place in the late 1950s, when he was principal of an elementary school in Battle Mountain.

"At that time, the Indian students were being taught in an old dilapidated building, and he stepped forward and said they were not going to meet there anymore, that they were going to go to school with the rest of the kids," he said. "It didn't matter to him who it was or what color they were. He cared about everyone."

During his work at Stanford on masters and doctorate degrees in education, Davis credited his true understanding of an educational administrator and teacher to his experience in Battle Mountain.

Davis was offered the job as founding president of Western Nevada Community College in Carson City in 1972. During his presidency, he built extended WNCC rural colleges in Fallon, Gardnerville and Elko. He was president from 1972 to 1983, when he retired.

After retirement, he became director of the Western Nevada Development District, providing infrastructure for the eastern part of Carson City.

In 1978, he was appointed by the governor to the Nevada Athletic Commission. He was the executive vice president of the World Boxing Council and founded the North American Boxing Federation, where he served as president from 1981 to 1982.

Davis' daughter, Maria Denzler of Reno, said she admired her father's kindness.

"My dad loved people, he loved helping people and he was just a really good person at heart. He did a lot of good in the world," Denzler said.

Helaine Jesse, WNC's vice president of development and external affairs, said Davis was "a great man and will be sorely missed."

She recalled a time when the college was looking at an opportunity to obtain grant money from the Nevada Gaming Foundation for Educational Excellence.

"When I contacted Dr. Davis about an observatory, his eyes just lit up and he said, 'That would be perfect,' " Jesse said.

"We submitted an application for a one-telescope domed observatory for $99,960, and he called the week before Christmas in 1999 to say we would be getting $100,000, and we just about hit the ceiling. We ended up with a 2,800-square-foot research-grade facility which was $1.4 million," she said.

Jesse said she later called former Gov. Mike O'Callaghan to give the gaming commission an opportunity to name the observatory, and they decided on Jack C. Davis.

Many others who worked closely with Davis throughout the years spoke highly of his great heart as well as his accomplishments.

"This breaks my heart. I thought the world of Jack Davis," said WNC music professor Stephanie Arrigotti, who is also director of Western Nevada College Musical Theater Company. "The Western Nevada Musical Theatre Company will be dedicating 'The King and I' in his memory. We always thought he had the bearing of a king."

Bus Scharmann, dean of rural development and the Fallon Campus, said he will miss his friend.

"He truly was a man with a vision. I am honored to have been originally hired by Dr. Davis and to have called him a dear friend," Scharmann said.

Carol A. Lucey, WNC president, said Davis was always willing to help.

"As the college's first president, Dr. Davis established the college on a strong foundation, and after he retired, he continued to play a helpful role in college affairs," Lucey said. "I was particularly grateful to him in the early days of my presidency for his staunch support of the college in our communities, and for the construction of the wonderful Jack C. Davis Observatory."

Davis is survived by his wife, Mary, and their three children, Susan Davis, Maria Davis Denzler and Greg Davis, and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 7 in the Sarah Winnemucca Room in the Aspen building on the Western Nevada College campus in Carson City.