Deceased June 21, 2023
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in memory
The class of 1955 lost a very special person on June 21, 2023, with the death of Sam Davenport. Sam remained active into his final years, despite a progressive battle with leukemia. His athletic life at Amherst is well remembered: four years of varsity hockey and position of co-captain, four years of varsity baseball and a place on the 1951 undefeated freshman football team.
After earning his MBA at Columbia in 1960, Sam gave 31 years to the Norton Co., where he managed four different manufacturing divisions and provided human resources services for both the international and domestic operations.
In the midst of his productive vocational life, Sam became a lay reader and senior warden at St. Francis Episcopal Church of Holden, Mass. He taught business courses at Clark University in Worcester as adjunct faculty, served as a tutor to newly released convicts seeking employment opportunities and played a key role in the formation of the Worcester youth hockey program. Sam became an avid outdoorsman, delighting in fly-fishing, camping and hiking.
In 1962, Sam married Shirley Mattocks, the youngest daughter of an Episcopal minister. With their two children, the Davenports created a profound bond that included an annual family reunion every summer somewhere in New England. Shirley and Sam were regular participants in the class of ’55 reunions. They only missed one since graduation day!
Sam developed a special talent for carpentry over his adult years and even helped build son Dwight’s log home and his daughter Heather’s horse barn in New Hampshire. But Sam had already built and maintained a solid foundation and friendship with the class of 1955, by whom he will be greatly missed. His was a life of diligence, faith-based service to others and love of his family.
Al McLean ’55 with Dick Wright ’55 and Rob Sowersby ’55