John Clement Davis III

HARPSWELL – John Clement Davis III, always known as Jock and often as “Phoo”, passed away peacefully on April 7, 2025, surrounded by his loving family. He had just celebrated his 90th birthday and as usual had a wonderful time playing with grandkids and great grandkids, smiling mischievously at jokes, and enjoying an enormous plate of blueberry pie and chocolate cake.

Jock was born in Norwalk, Conn. on April 5, 1935, and grew up in Rowayton, the older brother of sisters Joey and Jenny and son of John Clement and Priscilla Hazelton Davis. They were a sailing family, and the schooner Malabar III was the source of many adventures up and down the New England coast. Summers on Isle au Haut led to an especially deep love of Maine.

After attending Loomis, Jock graduated from Bowdoin College in 1957 and was stationed in Germany as a language expert for the U.S. Army. He then purchased land in Harpswell where he would later build the house that he lived in for most of his adult life. He returned to Bowdoin to get his master’s degree in mathematics, and spent 30 years teaching math, physics, chemistry, and computer science.

Jock married Sally Patten of La Cañada, Calif. in 1963 and together raised their children Brinna, Galen, and Micah. Jock retired from Brunswick High School in 1995 and fulfilled his dream of sailing the H-28 Summer Song single-handed along the Maine coast. He

continued to add to his already substantial fleet of 1950-era John Deere tractors and was an active volunteer for Harpswell Fire & Rescue for many years.

In 2001, Jock married Elizabeth Allerton Marshall of New York City and welcomed their daughter, Rose. Together they built a sailing dory, cruised on Summer Song, and raised ducks and geese, occasionally adopting wild mallards into the flock, much to his delight.

Jock loved the outdoors, and he loved to work. Hauling logs, splitting wood, milling steam engines in his machine shop, driving to hockey tournaments, building and repairing boats – he connected with the people he loved by doing.

Jock is survived by his unique sense of humor, a love of family, books and letter writing, his work ethic and strong moral compass which live on in his extended family, including grandchildren Isaac, Zephyr, and Cyrus Dworsky, Finn and Dell Davis-Batt, and Lula, Teo, and Hank Davis; great grandchildren Selah Dworsky, Goldie Dworsky, and Calder Bustamante; and a close-knit group of cousins.

A celebration of Jock’s life will be held at the Kellogg Church in Harpswell at 11 a.m. on May 24, before it gets stinking hot.