In Days Gone By: ESD Living Legend Dick Davenport, nearing 96, and enjoying 75 years of marriage

The early days

George Richard (Dick) Davenport was born Aug. 14, 1930, to Anna and Floyd Davenport. Dick was the second of four children who were raised on a ranch near Wenatchee.

In conversations with Dick regarding his earliest memories, he said, “We were poor and we all worked. I remember as an 8-year-old, I had to pick a large bucket of cherries before I could eat lunch. I could only reach the lower branches, so it took me a long time to pick that many cherries.

“I also remember in the late 1930s, there were around 900 people who settled in the Wenatchee area. They were from Oklahoma, and they were looking for work and a new place to live.

“I also remember hungry people coming to our house, and my mother always fed them. Times were tough during the Great Depression.”

Dick was 11 when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, and the U.S. entered World War II. As he grew into his teenage years, Dick said that early on, he realized he had two main ambitions in life. One was to be a military man and the other was to be a school principal. Dick stated his inspiration to be a principal was based upon his admiration for his Lewis & Clark Elementary School principal Mr. Durham. Principal Durham, working with his teacher and parents, held Dick back at the end of first grade. That caring decision allowed him to mature for another year and set the foundation for his lifelong success.

High school years: Setting the stage for a lifetime of service

In high school, Dick excelled in various leadership roles and athletics. Unbeknownst to Dick, his senior year would prove to be truly life changing. First, from an athletic standpoint Dick was a starter on the football team that would be declared state champions along with West Seattle High School from Seattle.

The 1948 fighting Panthers of Wenatchee High School were undefeated in conference play and traveled to Seattle to vie for the state football championship against the undefeated West Seattle team on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 1948. Television was new and the championship game was the first televised high school football game in the state. Under very wet conditions, the game ended in a 6-6 tie, and both teams were declared co-state champions.

Dick was also a varsity letterman in baseball and track.

As rewarding as that football experience was, it paled in comparison to another event that forever enhanced Dick’s life. In Dick’s senior year, Paul Ferguson assumed the position of Wenatchee school superintendent. Ferguson and his family had moved from Centralia where he had previously been school superintendent. Accompanying her father was 17-year-old Helen Ferguson. Born on July 30, 1931, Helen joined Dick and his senior classmates at the beginning of the school year.

Dick recalls saying “I am going to marry that girl” after he first met her. Part of the reason may have been that Helen was not only attractive but athletic.

Dick was both the student body and senior class president, and in that role, he attended Kiwana meetings and other events alongside Superintendent Ferguson. During those joint events, Dick won the favor of her father and began dating Helen.

College, marriage, children and active duty

Upon graduation, Dick had scholarship offers to the University of Washington and Washington State to play football. Both Helen and Dick were interested initially in the University of Washington but decided to enroll at Washington State.

During the next two years while furthering their education at Washington State, their relationship blossomed, and they decided to marry at the end of their sophomore year. On June 30, 1951, they were wed in Wenatchee. Helen’s grandfather officiated the ceremony.

Three months after their wedding, Helen realized that she was pregnant. On June 9, 1952, three weeks before their first anniversary, Helen gave birth to a baby girl, Debra.

With a newborn, Helen withdrew from Washington State while Dick — who had joined the ROTC — continued with his education.

In June 1953, Dick graduated from both Washington State with a degree in education and from the ROTC, commissioned as a second lieutenant. After college, Dick and the family were stationed at Larsen Air Force Base in Moses Lake for the following two years. In October 1954, Helen gave birth to their second child, a son, Rick.

In 1955, the family was assigned to Morocco in north Africa for two years. There, five-year-old Debra began her formal education, attending kindergarten at a French/Moroccan elementary school.

As Dick neared the end of his required four years of full-time active-duty service, he began applying for a teaching position and was hired by the Edmonds School District to teach fourth grade at Lynndale Elementary School. Interestingly, he received the notice of his hiring while still in Morocco via the Red Cross Communication System.

Dual careers: Military and education 

Military: Upon his return to Edmonds, Dick fulfilled his ROTC commitment and entered the Air Force Reserves for an additional four-year stint. Dick, however, continued to serve well beyond that period. He was called back to active service on four occasions during a military career that spanned 32 years — during the Korean Conflict, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and the USS Pueblo Crisis.

In discussing those situations with Dick, he said that they were difficult times for him as he was acting as a base commander at McChord Air Force Base for a non-flying unit while holding a position of an elementary school principal. He was torn between the two careers that he had dedicated his life to and expressed his gratitude to the school district and the people who stepped up to help him during those crises and his time away.

After a career that spanned more than three decades, Dick retired as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and was awarded the Legion of Merit (second highest military award) upon his retirement for his years of unwavering service.

Education

Dick worked in the Edmonds School District for 43 years, from 1957-2000. He initially was a teacher for four years at Lynndale and Seaview elementary schools. There he taught fourth and sixth grades, respectively. He was then elevated to the role of principal based upon his organization and leadership skills. In the following years, he served as the principal at Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, Alderwood, Meadowdale, Olympic (twice) and Hazelwood elementary schools.

During his tenure, Dick continued his education and received a master’s degree in education from the University of Washington in 1966.

Dick was also active at the District level, holding positions including director of personnel, assistant superintendent of elementary education and director of maintenance. In each position, he was involved in the hiring practices in all phases of the District’s operation.

He was also tasked by the District to be its “levy chairman” on two occasions and was successful both times in getting the school levy passed.

One of Dick’s ongoing contributions was the establishment of the Citizens Planning Committee (CPC), and he acted as the district’s representative for many years. The committee serves as an official advisory body to the District’s Board of Directors. Its primary purpose is to examine the long-range needs and critical issues facing the school district to help shape future administrative decisions and policies.

Dick initially retired in 1983 but was called back by then-school superintendent Brian Benzel in 1988 to fulfill the role of an assistant to the superintendent. In that role, he worked in project management, organizational realignment, remodeling, revitalization, relocations and problem solving. Based upon the District’s achievements in reorganizing itself over the next five years, Benzel was named Washington State’s Superintendent of the Year in 1993.

Including his work with Benzel, Dick worked with seven different school superintendents during his years at the Edmonds School District.

In 2022, Dick — along with Dick Gourley and Joni Goettel — were named Edmonds School Living Legends for their lasting impacts on the District’s students, staff and education environment.

In reflection

I had the privilege of sitting and talking to both Helen and Dick for over two hours. Given that they will be celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary on June 30, I asked them what contributed to their long marriage. Helen’s quick response was “Be ready for adventure and whatever life brings and enjoy the time together.” Dick, with a smile, nodded his head in agreement.

Dick then reflected on what it was like to be an elementary school principal in Edmonds, which was still a small town at the time, and everyone knew who you were. He said that when he was principal of Edmonds Elementary (now the Frances Anderson Center) during its final years of its operation, he drove a 1929 Model A pickup truck.

Although he received some negative feedback from the school superintendent, Harold Silvernail, regarding whether it was an appropriate vehicle for a school principal to be driving, he continued to drive it and parked it in front of the school entrance, on Main Street. He said he did that so that the students, staff and parents knew he was there. It was important to be present.

Another interesting anecdote was the fact that on multiple occasions Beck’s Funeral Home would call up in a panic asking Dick if he could come down and fill in as a pall bearer, as they needed an extra person. Dick stated it wasn’t always convenient, but he attended nearly a dozen unplanned burials in that way.

I asked Dick what lessons he had learned while being a teacher and a principal, and what advice he would give to those in the same position today. I felt his replies were extremely insightful.

“I always tried to make sure I was close enough to the child that I could actually listen to what they were saying and made sure they understood that I was listening.”

“I always watched for the child that seemed to be left out, and I would get them and take them to lunch in the cafeteria and make sure that they knew that they were noticed and important.”

“I know times are different now, but I always brought the parents into all discussions regarding their children, good or bad. Parents must be the real educators.”

“If I had to discipline a child during the school day, I always met with the child later before they left school to talk through things.”

“During the lunch hour I would do walk-arounds in the cafeteria, halls and areas where the children were, so that they knew I was looking out for them.”

“I realized that I was going to become a part of families, and at times that is not always what you want to be.”

“My best advice is to spend time with the kids, really talk and LISTEN to them. If they know you are truly listening, they will know that you care.”

In closing

During their working years and in retirement, Dick and Helen have also been involved in community affairs. Both were active in the Edmonds Christian Church where Dick was chairman of the board for many years, and more recently in the Edmonds Methodist Church, which is near their longtime home.

Dick also has been known an avid fisherman and a master gardener who annually grew 12-foot-high sweet corn and provided hundreds of summer squash to the Edmonds Food Bank.

Helen, as many will attest, makes some of the best pie crusts around and is an expert in hybrid roses, which she tested for Jackson and Perkins rose company.

Today, three generations of Davenports live in the area. Helen and Dick’s son Rick, a retired woodworking artist, and his wife Bev live in Edmonds. Their son, Nick, also resides in Edmonds and is the youth and family director at the Edmonds Methodist Church.

Helen and Dick’s daughter Debra, a retired Edmonds School District STEM Coordinator, lives in Meadowdale and is her parents’ primary caregiver. Her son, Tanner Davenport Thuet, lives in Arlington with his wife Trisha and is a chemistry teacher and defensive coordinator for the Everett High School football team, following in his grandfather’s footsteps.

Thanks go to Debra Davenport for arranging the meeting with her parents and for research assistance. Thanks also to Wikipedia, Wenatchee High School Yearbooks and My Edmonds News for their archives photo.