Jim Davis Obituary

Donald Moore '73 said:

I had long hoped to meet Jim.
Not only was he an outstanding DM & Tuba player but a leader.
As a music teacher myself, I had hoped to pick his brain & create a handbook for student leaders in performing music groups.
Don Moore '73

Michael Michael White '70 posted a photo:

Jim was my best friend in high school. He lived down the street from me in Sunnyvale. Jim had so much musical talent in band and and voice. Unfortunately, he never reached his potential. Before we could drive, Jim and I would die our bikes to Sunnyvale high school and play soccer there. tis was way before soccer was popular. He started a soccer team at Fremont in our Junior or senior year., Jim and I joined the Interact Club, which was supported by the Rotary Men’s Club. We were required to do 10-15 hours a month of community service. As usual, we did it all together. One of the fun things we did was organizing 5-6 person band and will travel around to senior centers have give mini performances to the residents. We also put together a German Oompah band and gave several concerts

Jim got his driver’s license about 5-6 months before me. This opened a whole new world of mischief for us. share. Jim and I were noted to be the best toilet papering experts at Fremont High School. It became an honor to be TP’d by us. I remember one of the clarinet players one a great music award. So, Jim and I planned the best TP job every. With 5 other participants, we TP’s Kathy Fitzgerald’s house with 150 rolls of toilet paper. You could not see the house. We had ways to unroll maybe 50-60 feet of tp paper and throw the role to the top of trees. The wind would make flying streamers. I think the photo of it made the school newspaper! We never got caught!! We were very well organized and sneaky!!

Jim got his driver’s license about 5-6 months before me. This opened a whole new world of mischief for us. share. Jim and I were noted to be the best toilet papering experts at Fremont High School. It became an honor to be TP’d by us. I remember one of the clarinet players one a great music award. So, Jim and I planned the best TP job ever. With 5 other participants, we TP’s Kathy Fitzgerald’s house with 150 rolls of toilet paper. You could not see the house. We had ways to unroll maybe 50-60 feet of tp paper and throw the role to the top of trees. The wind would make flying streamers. I think the photo of it made the school newspaper! We never got caught!! We were very well organized and sneaky!!

With our new freedoms having now 2 cars between us, we went on many adventures, including driving to Big Sur, and staying 2-3 days hiking, and fishing. I bought some liver and used it for bait to catch crawdads. We caught maybe 20 of them, boiled them and had a great feast. We also drove many times to Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk, Halfmoon Bay, and San Gregorio Beach. Not knowing, it was low tide and we walked around a cliff and found a Nudist colony. Definitely a different experience for both of us. LOL
Jim and I both worked at the A&W Rootbeer in Santa Clara. We had about 10 band members work there in 1969 and 1970. It was a real kick working there. We would make each other sandwiches and do weird things like using a sponge instead of a hamburger. If you coat it with enough catsup and lettuce, Jim made it to the first bite. It got to the point we made our own food. After work was done, we sometimes would drive to the beach with others and make a bon fire and cook hotdogs on sticks. We would get home about 3-4 o’clock and our parents never knew.

As mentioned, Jim was a very talented singer and joined the SMXXENS, which was an elite small group of student singers. This is where he met Joelle at the end of his Junior year. The SMXXENS gave a concert at a local Amusement Park called Frontier Village. They shared a seat on a ferris wheel and Jim turned on his charm and the rest his history!! I remember almost immediately he was truly smitten by her, and they seemed to be a perfect match. They were cute together. Jim had several girlfriends before Joelle, but it became
obvious to me, that Joelle was different. I had major chats with Jim through all the breakups and such. But without a doubt, he talked much more passionately about Joelle. I was so very happy for him! What was a great thing is Joelle was/is a fantastic musician as well.
We started in different directions at college. Jim was very much involved with music and Joelle, and he knew he wanted to go into a music career. I was still trying to determine what I wanted to do. We still hung out frequently but not as much as high school.

Attached is a photo of Jim and myself at his wedding with Joelle. We were so young then!!