John Richmond Davey

John Richmond Davey (Sing’s, 1942-1946)

Died 29^th July 2022.

The following was provided by John’s son, Chris Davey. 

John, born in West Derby, Liverpool, in 1929, may not have been a stereotypical Scouser, but he certainly seemed to inherit the wit and charm of that city. He could best be described as a “social giant”: his concern for, and memory of, others’ names, careers, lives, was utterly amazing. He made others feel good. And he continued to do this throughout his life. 

Born in the North West, John spent most of his life there. Possibly his longest time away was when, during the Second World war, he went to St Edward’s School in Oxford. The school, and the war, helped shape the young man. He made good friends and remained in touch with the school, appreciating the work the teachers did. He remembered the playing fields being dug up for bomb shelters and practice trenches. In school holidays, he worked on a farm camp, helping produce food for a war-torn Britain. It was maybe here that he developed his sense of duty and service. It was certainly at this time, with war-time rationing, that he developed a life-time’s delight for one of the sweeter things in life: chocolate. Ironically for a dentist, his sweet tooth remained intact to the end!

 

He was a dedicated learner, a prize-winning dental student at the University of Liverpool. He travelled into Liverpool from Christleton, where he lived at that time, on a motorbike. Come rain or shine. It is a wonder he survived! He qualified as a dentist and completed most of his national service, and his additional year as an RAF dental surgeon, here in the North West. John and his wife Helen somehow managed to secure a lovely house in Lytham St Anne’s early on in their marriage, before they bought their first house together in Chester. The RAF appreciated his skill as a dentist; they also appreciated his skill as a sportsman, flying him to important fixtures, in the Isle of Man, for example, All in the nation’s best interests, of course!

 

So John was a keen and talented sportsman. He was a gifted tennis player, playing here in Chester. He played rugby to a high level – there’s a great photo of him in the Chester Rugby Union Team of 1946, fresh-faced and full of vigour, surrounded by a motley collection of more mature men, presumably all recently returned from war. He eventually dropped out of playing rugby, fearful that injury to his hands would prevent him being able to study and serve as a dentist. He was a very strong swimmer, gliding forcefully through sea or pool. He played squash competitively for the RAF and at the Castle in Chester. Later he took up golf, loved it and obviously became very good at it, playing initially at Curzon Park in Chester and then at Eaton Golf Club where he went on to become club captain. Most of these sports he attempted to teach to his children with varying degrees of success. Later still, John became a keen fly fisherman, using his delicate and precise manual skills to manufacture the most beautiful and the most effective of flies for his own use.

 

And John was a highly skilled professional. You would not necessarily expect a dentist to be loved, but speak to anyone who had him as their dentist and they did. When his children introduced themselves to anyone in Chester, it was “oh…are you John the dentist’s child?”, followed by a glowing description of what a wonderful man he was. People seemed to love going to the dentist, if that dentist was John. His medical knowledge and incredible skill as a dental surgeon was one thing. The other was his absolute skill of putting other people at ease, of taking a personal interest in them, of showing that he cared for them, not just their teeth! John worked as a dentist for the RAF. He joined and became a partner of a big dental practice here at White Friars in Chester, and later in his career, he moved out to Tarvin to set up practice there. In all these places, his skill and charm are fondly remembered by those he treated and worked with.

 

He was heavily involved in local life, whether it was in sport, culture or in his own neighbourhood. He was an active member of the Society of 13, where he helped organise talks and meetings with a broad range of cultural topics, from mountain climbing to philosophy. John valued learning of all sorts. He was a man of science but he never tried to influence the different directions his children took, with degrees in Languages and Literature….even though he must occasionally have been tempted. He let them do what they wanted to do, confident in the value of all types of study, and in their ability to choose what was right for them. John was devoted to his wife Helen, and she to him. And for John, family was the centre of everything. And so it still is.

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