FREDERIC C. DAVIS, 2LT, USAF
Frederic Davis '52
Lucky Bag
From the 1952 Lucky Bag:
Frederic Cornell Davis
Lincoln, Nebraska
Tough, but yet so gentle, Fritz was known by everyone not only for his size, but for his many achievements in Academy athletics. Coming to Navy after a year at Nebraska University in Lincoln, he found Academy life somewhat different from his fraternity days. He was well trained in Phi Delta social art and his social activity at the Academy made him many true friends. Fritz was a mainstay on the varsity football and basketball squads along with being the track team's best weight man. We know that Fritz's Service career will be just as successful as his four years at athletics.
Fritz is pictured throughout the 1951 Lucky Bag. He was team captain of the basketball team and broke the academy record in discus.
Frederic Cornell Davis
Lincoln, Nebraska
Tough, but yet so gentle, Fritz was known by everyone not only for his size, but for his many achievements in Academy athletics. Coming to Navy after a year at Nebraska University in Lincoln, he found Academy life somewhat different from his fraternity days. He was well trained in Phi Delta social art and his social activity at the Academy made him many true friends. Fritz was a mainstay on the varsity football and basketball squads along with being the track team's best weight man. We know that Fritz's Service career will be just as successful as his four years at athletics.
Fritz is pictured throughout the 1951 Lucky Bag. He was team captain of the basketball team and broke the academy record in discus.
Loss
Fritz was lost when his T-33 Shooting Star crashed near Easterly, Texas on January 21, 1953.
Obituary
From the Lincoln Star on January 22, 1953:
Second Lt. Frederic C. Davis, 22, former Northeast High School and Naval Academy athletic star, was killed in a plane crash near San Angelo, Tex., late Wednesday.
He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Davis of 3715 Holdrege. His wife, the former Joan Shickley of Lincoln, resided at San Angelo with him.
Davis was graduated from the Naval Academy in June, 1952, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force and entered flight training at Goodfellow AF Base.
Witnesses to the crash said the plane in which Davis and his instructor, Capt. Wesley M. Evans of Mexia, Tex., were flying lost a wing control surface, then spun into the ground. Evans was also killed in the crash.
An all-time athletic great at Northeast, Davis was an All-State football tackle in 1946 and an All-State basketball center for the 1946-47 season, his senior year.
He holds the district track meet record of 54 feet, 5 1/8 inches in the shot put and his 167-foot, seven-inch discus throw at the Doane Relays in 1947 was the best in the nation for that year.
Davis, who was the only three-sport lettermen at the Naval Academy in 1951, played three seasons with the Midshipman football, basketball and track teams. He was instrumental in upsetting the Army football team in 1950 and played a large part in the 1951 defeat of Army.
He hurled the discus for the Navy track squad and was captain of the 1951-52 basketball team. During the 1952 football season, he was a member of the Goodfellow AFB Skyhawks team. Davis attended the University of Nebraska of Nebraska prior to entering the Naval Academy and was affiliated with Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
Surviving, in addition to his parents and his wife, is one sister, Mrs. W. W. McKittrick of Winnetka, III.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
He graduated from Northeast High School in Lincoln in 1947. Engineering. Hi-Y 1-4; “N” Club 1-6, Secretary 3, President 5; Leadership 5, 6; Football; Basketball; Track; Band (played clarinet) 1, 2; Honors Convocation 4; Class Vice President 3.
He is buried in Nebraska.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
“Fritz Davis, ace Rocket center, sinks one amidst the tough guarding of Grand Island’s Lucht and Knickrehm." From his high school yearbook.
From The Lincoln Star on January 22, 1953
Related Articles
John O'Grady '52, Robert Allison '52, Raymond Tacke '52, Charles Andrews, III '52, and John Ellison '52 were also on the track team.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
