Millerton mourns Walter Davis, 96

MILLERTON — He was a man respected by many, and beloved by more, and when Walter Davis passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the age of 96, a community often split apart by political conflict joined together to mourn.In a singular show of dedication and discipline, the nonagenarian practiced law up until just a few months before his death, according to his law partner of 45 years, Robert Trotta, with whom he ran the law firm of Davis & Trotta.“It was not uncommon that after 5 p.m. I would pass his office and he was still there working,” Trotta said, adding Davis would stress their legal work was a profession, not a business. “He was a very, very intelligent lawyer, and we would have fairly complicated legal issues to resolve occasionally, and I would sit with Walter and kick things around, and he’d come up with theories in some instances that I’d long forgotten about. He was a very good lawyer.”He was civic-minded; Davis was a member of the Lions Club, the Millerton Grange, the American Legion and an active member of the Methodist Church for many years. He also served as the trustee of the Tabor Foundation (which supports residents planning to train in the health-care field and seek employment in northeast Dutchess or northwest Connecticut) for 54 years, until his health forced him to resign only months ago. Davis also spent a number of years serving his community: he served as mayor of the village of Millerton in the 1950s, served on the Village Board, served as town justice/justice of the peace for the town of North East from 1948 until 1979 and as town councilman for North East as well. As town Supervisor Dave Sherman explained, back in the 1970s there was a five-member Town Board, made up of two justices of the peace, two councilmen and one supervisor — all of whom were elected by the populace. After the format changed, Davis continued on, serving as town justice for many years. Clearly, he was devoted to the community he stumbled upon while looking for a place to practice law after being discharged from the Army.“He was working on Wall Street at the time and was just discharged from the Army,” explained daughter Debby Cromwell in a past interview. “When World War II was over he got on the Harlem Valley train line and took it as far north as he could. He went to Chatham and started to work his way back down. He went from town to town and asked if the town needed an attorney.”He got lucky when he hit Millerton, according to his daughter, as attorney Fred Conklin said he needed assistance. Davis started with Conklin and never looked back. He built a reputation for being hard-working, fair, honest and kind.“It was not uncommon to perform marriages in our office,” Trotta remembered about their early days together. “Once, two people came in from working on a farm, and you could tell they didn’t have much money — no suit — just overalls and a denim dress. He married them, and they had no plans to go anywhere for a honeymoon. They had no friends with them. Walter felt constrained to do something. I got sent down to the liquor store to buy them a bottle of champagne. He was a real gentleman.”Edward Downey also worked with Davis; while in law school and his first years of practice he worked with both Davis and Trotta. Downey said he considered himself “lucky” to do so.“We are witnessing the passing of a generation of talented, well-educated individuals who played a significant role in the commercial, professional and civic life of our community,” Downey stated, adding the recent deaths of Mort Bloch and Bill Pulver only add to the community’s loss. “They set a standard for thoughtful discourse and pragmatic solutions that we would do well to emulate.”Downey expressed great fondness for the man whom he said taught him much.“If you just listened to Walter’s voice, it told you a great deal about him,” he said. “It was deep, resonate, measured and reassuring.”Daughter Debbie summed it up quite eloquently in 2005 when interviewed for her father’s 90th birthday.“He’s a real inspiration,” she said. “We feel very lucky that we’ve gotten to know him as adults.”She and her three sisters, Nancy, Priscilla and Amy, all clearly felt the same way; now, facing their sorrow, they recognize that gift’s rarity. Similarly, so, too, does the community — and those who knew Walter Davis say they feel so much richer for having had the opportunity to do so.