Arthur E. “Otts” Davis III ’61 (1943-2007)
People often asked Arthur E. “Otts” Davis III ’61 why he loved Gilman. He supported the School because of what it did for him and because he was genuinely committed to organizations that helped him personally or strengthened the greater community.
“Gilman gave me my foundation and ability to compete in the business world,” said Davis, who passed away in 2007. “It prepared me for life and my career.”
Davis entered Gilman from a small school in Annapolis, starting in the First Form (seventh grade), and remembered that academics were always a challenge for him. He needed to catch up on the basics while plowing through new material, a daunting task for a boy who was more mechanical than academic, who was happier tinkering under the hood of a car than applying the Pythagorean Theorem.
“One day in geometry class I was dreaming about how to put a cut out in a car, which bypasses the muffler,” he recalled, “and Mr. Gamper noticed my inattention.”
45 years later, Davis remembered verbatim the classic Gamper comment that shook him out of his revelry: “Hear no work. See no work. Do no work.”
Davis was a member of the Gilman Board of Trustees, and his volunteer activities ran deep into the Baltimore community. A realtor with Chase, Fitzgerald & Co. for more than 40 years, he held leadership positions with the Board of Realtors on the local, state and national levels and was a founding member of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors Foundation. He also served on the Board of Directors at Roland Park Place and volunteered as a tutor at Roland Park Elementary School.
Davis was as generous with his financial generosity as he was with his time. In supporting the Campaign for Gilman School, Davis arranged two gifts, a cash gift and a gift by will. It is that planned gift that solidified his legacy at Gilman School, as well as that of his wife Melinda.
In writing his will, he chose to leave his gift for general support. He knew from experience—he taught four years before becoming a realtor—that one of the problems facing schools is faculty salaries, and understood that his gift, once realized, will support key issues in the School’s strategic plan at that time.
“I think that unrestricted gifts are critical to the School,” he said. “What I decide today may not be the best use years from today. I trust the institution and I trust the judgment at the time the gift arrives.”
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