John A Davidson

John Alexander Davidson set sail on a solo navigation of the eternal cosmos on October 21st, 2020. He was born in Eltham, London, England on October 28th, 1931, to Samuel Alan Davidson OBE of Oban, Scotland, and Minnie Ibbotson of Cheshire, England. John was their fifth child who followed Alan, Gordan, Iris, and Jean. Born during the relative calm between The Great War and World War Two, John’s childhood was soon ruptured by the concussions of Nazi bombs during The Blitz and the Battle of Britain. The Davidson family did their part and this meant John and his sister Jean were sent to the English countryside where they found refuge and hardship while defending one another and making the best of a difficult situation.
John and his sister returned home once the Nazis were turned back. The family reestablished a home life while mourning the loss of the eldest son, Alan, killed in action as a gunner in the British Army who went down with the ship while on the England to Russia arctic convoy in the early years of World War Two.
Once his school years were complete, he commenced his professional career by serving as an apprentice in electrical engineering. However, at the age of 18, he was called to national service in the Royal Air Force. He served in the RAF for three years centered around Melksham in Wiltshire. Here, at the age of 22, he met his first wife Margaret and soon established a family with the birth of Jacqui and then Michael. In his spare time, he pursued racing cars and motor bikes and developed a love for finely tuned machines, high speeds, and sailing.
Through hard work and ambition, John established a career in the rapidly expanding industry of micro-electronics at the Elliott Brothers computer company. With this professional experience, John moved to Sweden in 1972 and began a 30-year career with RIFA, the technical manufacturing subsidiary of Ericsson Mobile. He married for a second time and became a father for the third time with his wife Margot and his daughter Alexandra. In his off time, he honed his expertise racing sailboats in the frigid, challenging waters off Scandinavia.
His tenure at Ericsson was a succession of success stories. He sailed the turbulent seas of international business selling RIFA technology throughout Asia and setting up distribution networks in Asia, Europe, and the USA. Numerous promotions followed. As an Ericsson Vice President, John participated in meetings with the Ericsson CEO and board members, and in this capacity had influence on overall Ericsson governance.
In 1985 John became President for RIFA Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut, and focused his efforts in sales and marketing towards South America, and especially the telecom industry in booming Brazil. John enjoyed great professional success in Brazil. He also met and married Yeda and together they settled in Dallas, Texas, as John neared retirement. These years were filled with competitive sailing and numerous trips to Corpus Christi for various regattas and weekly races. John relocated permanently to Corpus Christi in 2005 to focus on sailing. He became a fixture in the local sailing community and yacht clubs and made many good friends. He had great success in the local regattas and Wednesday night races under the Midget Ocean Racing Fleet (MORF). He was also a great friend to the local U. S. Navy and Marine Corp student pilots as John would welcome them on board his two boats (Wet Xpress 2 and Monsoon/Mojo) as crew. John was a routine winner of the annual Navy Regatta and willingly let his crew keep the trophies (most of them) however would rarely let them helm through the gap.
John lived an incredibly full life and was loved by many. He was gracious yet competitive, well mannered yet sometimes obstinate, generous with his friends but as stingy as a Scot and drove hard for the best possible deal. With excellent team building skills, he and his team could solve any problem. John was comedic and flirtatious and held his team members to the highest standards. He was a master negotiator, a master sailor, a master salesman, a fine chef, a Gardner of the best degree, and a fantastic friend. He will be missed by many.
The family offers a special thanks to all in Corpus Christi who cherished him, sailed with him, and looked after him. This includes his fellow sailors and race organizers and to the medical professionals who looked after him including, but not limited to, doctors Minh Nguyen, Aftab Mahmood, John Masciale, Kent Tompkins, the wonderful staff of Christus Spohn Hospice/Homecare, and Ms. Darlene Starry.
A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 6, 2020 at Seaside Funeral Home Chapel. To view a livestream of the service please visit: https://www.oneroomstreaming.com/view/authorise.php?k=160401875983434

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