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Dr. Davis had multitude of interests
Dr. William M. Davis had a need to make a difference.
It may be why Dr. Davis, who died Sunday in a car accident at the age of 63, decided upon such a demanding profession recognized for helping people.
During his life, the well-known Tucson surgeon was key in the production of Bapten, a Food and Drug Administration- approved drug for treating strained tendons in horses.
The past few years, he had been working on a human version of this scar-remodeling drug, said Elizabeth Pessner, his sister.
Dr. Davis was born in Richmond, Va.
He attended the Virginia Military Institute. Following in his stepfather’s footsteps, he decided to become a physician, attending the Medical College of Virginia. He completed his residency at Louisville General Hospital in Kentucky.
Dr. Davis was based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base during his time in the military. He chose to remain here during the late 1960s and early 1970s, serving as Chief of Surgery at D-M Hospital and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine.
In 1971, he opened his own vascular surgery practice.
Close friends and co-workers labeled Dr. Davis with the endearing term of “Wild Bill” for his unbelievable energy and need for making a difference.
“He was always upgrading his skills. He was incredibly talented and very colorful,” Pessner said. Dr. Davis enjoyed the outdoors, according to his fiance Sally Lanyon.
“He was an avid hiker in the desert mountains, he loved horses, tennis and walking,” she said.
Brent Davis, a close friend and fellow member of the VIP Breakfast Club, a local business leads and referrals club, said Dr. Davis was known for vocalizing the issue of trauma services being performed by paramedics in the 1980s.
Dr. Davis belonged to the Mountain Oyster Club and the Alcorn Ride. “He was involved in many different organizations and programs where he made many dear friends,” said Pessner.
Said Lanyon: “He had a passion for religious studies which lead to his involvement with the St. Thomas the Apostle parish. His interest in religion was developed from the understanding that as a physician, he wasn’t God.”
Dr. Davis is survived by his sister; his fiance; and four children, Kendell D. Davis and Trevor K. Davis, both of Tucson; Susan M. Collins of Los Angeles; and Corinne M. Davis of Austin.
Memorial services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 5150 N. Valley View Road in Tucson.
(Dated May 25, 2000)
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Robert Evans Sr., 77; ex-Hughes machinist
The Air Corps vet volunteered for years with the Boy Scouts and Little League.
Robert Evans Sr., a former Hughes Aircraft employee who spent much of his life helping Tucson youths, died Sunday of cancer. He was 77.
Mr. Evans, a World War II veteran and Tucson resident for nearly 50 years, learned he had cancer of the esophagus two years ago, and doctors gave him 30 days to live.
”It’s just been a miracle from God that he stayed with us this long,” said Pam Evans, his daughter-in-law. ”After the diagnosis, he started setting goals for himself.”
Mr. Evans hung on for the birth of a great-grandchild, saying, ”I’m going to make it until that baby is born,” Pam Evans recalled.
Mr. Evans first came to Tucson in 1943 to serve in the Army Air Corps and met his wife-to-be, Alpha, here. The couple returned after the war and raised six children in Tucson.
For 33 years, Mr. Evans worked for Hughes Aircraft as a machinist, and he was involved in volunteer activities, including the Boy Scouts and Little League. He served 30 years on the Catalina Council, southern Arizona’s governing body for the Boy Scouts, and was Cub master for Pack 96 for a dozen years.
”He cared about people very much,” Pam Evans said. ”His friends and family are really going to miss that.”
Mr. Evans is survived by Alpha Evans, his wife of 56 years, and children Robert Evans, William Evans, Caroline Gardner, Stephen Evans and Mike Evans, all of Tucson. Another daughter, Catherine Jenkins, lives in Missouri.
He also has 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass was said this morning at the Church of the Sacred Heart, with burial at Holy Hope Cemetery.
(Dated May 13, 2000)
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Raymond Membrila, war vet, TNI worker
He was a decorated paratrooper and much respected for his work here over 45 years.
Raymond Membrila, a decorated World War II Army paratrooper who worked for Tucson Newspapers for 45 years, has died at age 73.
Mr. Membrila died Sunday. Cause of death was not given.
”Raymond was a very hard worker who was always liked and respected by his fellow workers and both newsrooms for his professionalism,” said Jim Huffman, former prepress manager for Tucson Newspapers. The company handles production, advertising and circulation for the Tucson Citizen and The Arizona Daily Star.
Mr. Membrila was born July 17, 1926, at Arivaca. He was a graduate of Tucson High School and served in the South Pacific during World War II.
He and his wife, Molly, were married Sept. 11, 1948.
For 23 of his years at Tucson Newspapers, Mr. Membrila was a member and sometimes president of the Stereotypers Union. He was a former supervisor of the Graphic Arts Department.
After retirement in 1991, Mr. Membrila spent his time working on property he owned in Arivaca, visiting his grandchildren and following professional boxing events.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Augustine’s Cathedral, 192 S. Stone Ave. Carrillo’s Tucson Mortuary handled arrangements.
Survivors include his wife, Molly; a daughter, Carol Gallagher of Tucson; a son, George Membrila of Los Angeles; two sisters; four brothers; and two grandchildren.
(Dated May 11, 2000)
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Dr. Michael R. Zales, 63, psychiatrist
• The former New Yorker served on the boards of civic and Jewish groups.
Dr. Michael R. Zales, former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut who lived in Tucson for the past 13 years, has died at age 63.
His wife, Ruth, said he died of natural causes at his home Thursday evening.
She said, ”One of his psychiatrist colleagues called today to say he was an absolutely brilliant practitioner who helped everybody with whom he came in contact.”
A family friend, John Peck, said, ”Michael had one of the biggest hearts in the world – just all-encompassing. It’s a tremendous loss.”
Dr. Zales was born April 26, 1937, in New York City, son of Samuel and Gladys Diamond Zales. His father was an international businessman and his mother, who marched on Washington with Martin Luther King, administered the Aid for International Development Grant to Israel in 1967-68.
Dr. Zales was a graduate of Princeton University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He served as a medical officer with the U.S. Naval Reserve.
In addition to his Greenwich position, Dr. Zales served as an adjunct professor at Yale University and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
In 1970, he established a hot line for troubled teens – one of the first in the country and a prototype for the many such hot lines that followed.
The Zales moved to Tucson in 1987. During his years here, Dr. Zales taught medical and psychiatric residents at University Medical Center, Tucson Medical Center and Kino Hospital.
He retired on his 62nd birthday. His wife said he was an avid student as well as a teacher, and planned to return to UA to earn his doctorate in psychology – a ”second career.”
Dr. Zales was a member of Temple Emanu-El, a member of the board of directors of Jewish Family & Children’s Service and had served on the board of the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
He also served on the boards of many psychiatric associations and other organizations during his career, and was past president of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry and the Benjamin Rush Society.
A memorial service is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Temple Emanu-El, 225 N. Country Club Road. Private burial will follow, with arrangements by Evergreen Cemetery.
Survivors include his wife of nearly 41 years, Ruth Aron Zales; a son, Samuel Zales of Tucson; a daughter, Melissa Zales Koller of Laren, The Netherlands; a brother, William A. Zales of Greenwich, Conn.; and three granddaughters.
The family suggests memorials to JFSA Compelling Needs Fund, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, 3822 E. River Road, Tucson AZ 85718.
(Dated May 06, 2000)
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Banker John M. Montano aided community
• The Tucson High graduate started as a filing clerk and retired as an executive.
A funeral mass and burial was held today for native Tucsonan John M. Montano Jr., a retired longtime banker who spent years doing community work with charities and other groups.
Mr. Montano, who turned 90 Jan. 1, died Monday.
Mass was at 10:30 this morning at Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic Church . Burial was at Holy Hope Cemetery.
Mr. Montano helped in the start-up of the Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Southern Arizona, volunteering countless hours with the group, family members said.
He also served on a Selective Service Board here and belonged to the Lions, Elks and Wildcat clubs. He was very active in the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Montano, a native Tucsonan, worked for 36 years in the banking field here. He also co-owned Kord’s Ambulance Service, now Kord’s Southwest Ambulance Service.
He started as a filing clerk at the age of 26, and worked his way through the ranks at Southern Arizona Bank. He retired in 1973 as the institution’s vice president.
Mr. Montano, a graduate of Tucson High School, worked as a teller and in the bank’s bookkeeping department before he was appointed assistant manager of the South Side branch in 1948.
In that position, he played an influential role in nurturing the area’s businesses.
”John was a very quiet, very unassuming individual,” said son-in-law James Ronstadt, the former director of Tucson’s Parks and Recreation Department. ”But he was very effective within the community.”
Mr. Montano was made an officer of the bank in 1955. He was named manager of the South Side branch in 1965.
He and Graciela Angulo, also a native Tucsonan, were married Aug. 26, 1933. She survives him.
Other survivors include daughters Margaret Kordsiemon and Christina Ronstadt; a sister, Mercedes Espinoza; a brother, Oscar Montano; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made to St. Luke’s Home, Inc., P.O. Box 31596, Tucson, AZ, 85751 and Angel Charity for Children, P.O. Box 13318, Tucson, AZ, 85732.
(Dated May 05, 2000)
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