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Apples left under
the tree
HFM BOCES community celebrates the life and career of Dr. Davis
 The
stage was far from empty – but still, it was clear that someone
was missing.
On Wednesday, April 28, a dozen colleagues and friends took
turns at the microphone, offering tributes and sharing fond
memories of Dr. Geoffrey H. Davis, who died April 1.
Their stories were insightful, and funny, and sad – and for a
brief moment, their recollections helped the 150 in attendance
reconnect with the man who has headed up HFM BOCES as district
superintendent for the last 14 years.
HFM BOCES Board of Education President Mr. Robert Townsend set
the tone in his welcoming comments by confessing his own
feelings of immense loss and emptiness while reflecting on Dr.
Davis’ humanity, love of life and concern of all.
“We grow in our own humanity when we are blessed to know someone
of greatness,” Mr. Townsend said.
The celebration was built around the reflections and
remembrances of a diverse group of friends, colleagues and
associates who were invited to share their perspectives about
the educator and man.
Canajoharie Superintendent Richard Rose said that it was Dr.
Davis’ leadership that changed the culture of the local
educational community.
“Each of our area schools stood alone, each on their own,” Mr.
Rose said. “Because of him our schools became, and still are, a
tightly knit group that works together and helps each other. He
was one of the most determined people we ever worked with.”
Dr. Davis was a colleague and “brother,” Mr. Rose said. “He was
there to hear us, to feel our pain, to comfort and advise us.”
HFM BOCES and its component schools became an extension of Dr.
Davis’ family, he added. “He invested a piece of himself into
what he did here and the people he worked with.”
Little Falls Central Schools Business Manager Cletus McLaughlin
offered both professional and personal remembrances of Dr.
Davis, as a colleague in the school district for 14 years and as
a neighbor for many more years than that.
As high school principal in Little Falls, Dr. Davis was the
obvious choice to become superintendent, Mr. McLaughlin said,
which made him the youngest superintendent in all of New York
State at the time.
“Geoff’s abilities were that obvious to everyone,” Mr.
McLaughlin said. “He transformed the entire district and
community.”
Mr. McLaughlin also talked about leadership by example, and
about doing the right thing.
“Geoff made you feel like you were part of his team, that you
mattered,” Mr. McLaughlin said.
When he turned his comments to Dr. Davis’ “human side,” the
curtain was pulled aside for many work-place colleagues to see a
part of his life that they never knew.
 “I
watched Geoff play with his kids in the park,” Mr. McLaughlin
said. “We lived one house apart, and I got to see him running
and laughing and loving his family.”
Mr. McLaughlin shared a sweetly humorous list of memorable
thoughts that he said would always recall Dr. Davis to his mind.
“His beloved Audi - always clean, his mustache, the neatness of
his desk, his drums, his 30-year marriage,” Mr. McLaughlin
related how each item helped endear him to his friend Geoff. “He
was always a gentleman, always waving to me with a smile as he
and Cindy took their evening walk past my porch.”
Mr. McLaughlin shared how, in the final months, he and Dr. Davis
exchanged text messages frequently. After hearing of his
friend’s passing, he sat to reread the several final messages
he’d received, and found himself texting his friend one last
time to say goodbye.
“Winner in everything he touched”
Several speakers, including New York State Senator Hugh T.
Farley, Assemblyman Marc Butler, and United State Congressman
Paul Tonko, sent messages heralding Dr. Davis as a passionate,
tenacious man who represented everything right about educational
leadership.
“Dr. Geoffrey Davis was a dynamo,” Senator Farley said in his
videotaped testimonial to his former colleague and friend.
Congressman Paul Tonko spoke about Dr. Davis’ compassion for
students and passion for his work, particularly the fight to
preserve HFM BOCES as an independent entity.
“Geoff Davis was a winner in everything he touched,” Congressman
Tonko said in his taped tribute. “When something needed to get
done, he got it done!”
Retired HFM BOCES Career and Technical Center Director Michael
Gendron recalled that the first time he saw Dr. Davis on the CTC
campus, he was sure he was a salesman, nattily dressed in a
pinstripe suit.
 Mr.
Gendron went on to remember, with humor, some of the work
experiences they had shared together. He mentioned board members
and budgets, and the great success of the referendum that
resulted in a new BOCES facility built adjacent to Fulton
Montgomery Community College. He also shared a story about a
typical, before dawn, snow-day closing process, punctuated by
Dr. Davis trademark “Done!”
Mr. Gendron told about a letter from Dr. Davis that he had
framed and kept. He described it as a prized possession, and
said, with emotion, that Dr. Davis had left the world a far
better place than he found it.
“I didn’t know we needed an educational savior,” Mr. Gendron
said. “But we got one.”
HFM BOCES Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Hohenforst spoke
about her mentor as one with an “uncanny ability” to impact
lives in a positive way.
“He was a coach to all of us,” Dr. Hohenforst said. “He always
had the best interests of others in mind, even when they came
before his own.”
She characterized Dr. Davis as pure-hearted, selfless, and
honest.
“He possessed the highest integrity of anyone I know,” Dr.
Hohenforst said.
Other speakers recalled Dr. Davis as a man of dedication,
passion and vision, crediting him for the momentum that made the
new BOCES facility a reality.
FMCC President Dustin Swanger said that Dr. Davis’ vision to
build the new HFM campus next to the community college sent an
important message to the community.
“He wanted students to know there is a pathway from high school
to college right here, and you can do it,” Dr. Swanger said.
Dr. Swanger lamented that he didn’t know Dr. Davis long, but
said he “felt like a friend” from the moment the two educators
met.
“I feel robbed that I didn’t have the opportunity to work with
him more,” Dr. Swanger said, unable to hold back his emotion.
“Influence evident in us all”
Little was said of Dr. Davis’ courageous battle with the cancer
that claimed his life, but every speaker mentioned his energy
and courage, his determination and passion, his extraordinary
commitment to meeting any challenge. Left unspoken was the final
challenge he was unable to overcome.
A special part of the tribute to Dr. Davis was an interlude of
music – a recording of Dr. Davis’ band, O2, performing an
arrangement of Bob Dylan’s song, “My Back Pages.” Images of Dr.
Davis at his beloved drums were projected on the wall as the
music and lyrics washed over the audience.
The celebration concluded with a touching slide presentation of
dozens of photos covering the years of his life, from a teenage
Geoff to the professional Dr. Davis, to the proud dad
celebrating family milestones.
Retired superintendent Glenn Goodale shared how his father
always said that the story of a man wasn’t in the birth or death
date on his memorial, but in the dash that goes between – the
life that’s lived between the dates.
Mr. Townsend, who had worked closely with Dr. Davis as a member
and president of the HFM BOCES Board of Education, concluded the
program with his comments.
“I worked with Geoff for 14 years,” Mr. Townsend said, holding
back tears. “But it wasn’t until tonight that I really
understood how much he meant to all of us.”
Dr. Davis’ legacy was described in different ways by those who
paid tribute, but perhaps the best analogy came from his friend
and colleague, Mr. Rose.
“We all hold a part of him in us. His influence can be seen in
us. We are the apples left under the tree,” Mr. Rose said.
“Allowing others to see Geoff in us remains our greatest tribute
to a great leader.”
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