Wendell Alan Davis

Wendell Alan Davis passed away on Sunday, February 13, 2022. He died at the age of 80, having recently retired in Fall 2021 from teaching Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas, Arlington.
The son of Wendell Clark and Lois Jarvis Davis, Alan was born July 1, 1941, in Evanston, IL. Alan graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School, and afterward attended the University of Michigan. Despite his initial self-professed cluelessness about their football team, Alan kept his U of M beanie, and through the years enjoyed supporting his team in the Rose Bowl. While at Michigan, Alan earned B.S. (1963), M.S. (1964) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. in Engineering Math.
After graduation, he worked for McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. He married Margaret Prewett in 1974 after moving to Schenectady, NY where he worked at General Electric. His eldest son, Brent, was born there. Alan later worked for Raytheon in Boston where son, Nathan, and daughter, Janelle, were born.
In 1983, Alan joined the faculty at University of Texas, Arlington as an Associate Professor. His specialty was RF devices and circuits. He authored or co-authored 49 journal publications and held a U.S. patent with Howard Russell and Ron Carter. He also co-authored a book, Radio Frequency Circuit Design, with Krishna Agarwal. Alan served as Graduate Advisor for the Department of Engineering for more than 10 years. He was happy in his work, and counseled others to choose an occupation based on interests rather than salary. On a recent visit, he commented that his young grandson might be an engineer in the making: “fixing things that are not broken.” At UTA, Alan particularly enjoyed his service as faculty advisor for Tau Beta Pi, the Linux User Group, Cornerstone, the Lutheran Student Organization, and as a leader in the Faculty Staff Christian Fellowship Organization.
Alan’s three children grew up playing the violin. A cherished memory for Alan was of his young children playing at a Christmas celebration—a picture of which has remained on his dresser. In 2016, after hearing his son-in-law perform in what had become an annual tradition of Handel’s Messiah, Alan was in a debilitating accident on his way to a family Christmas gathering. The accident left him paralyzed, and for the past five years, he has lived with quadriplegia.
Despite the many obstacles, Alan returned to his work at UTA in 2018. He has relied on the loving care of many devoted doctors, nurses, and caregivers. He spent the last two years in the care of Doug Colley, for whose friendship his family is grateful. Those who cared for Alan noted his kindness and positive attitude in spite of his physical suffering, and Alan expressed his own gratitude for this time as a chance to make connections in a deeper way.
Alan’s shelves are filled with books on engineering, physics, mathematics, and programming as well as books on theology, history, apologetics, philosophy, and sermons. His hard drive has a collection of things from the internet as well as things he has written. He thought deeply about his own world and life views—his meaning and his destiny. And lightheartedly, he loved his (at times, nefarious!) roles in the children’s productions given during Vacation Bible School at the church where he attended.
In his immediate family, Alan is survived by his sister Barbara Hailes and husband Theodore Hailes, by his son Brent Davis and partner Rachel Veach with children Uriah, Kelton, and Masirah, by his son Nathan Davis, and by his daughter Janelle Davis and husband Sung Lee with children Udo, Eila, and Nova. The funeral for Wendell Alan Davis will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, February 22, 2022, at Wade Funeral Home, 4140 West Pioneer Parkway, Arlington, TX. Burial will follow at Moore Cemetery. Family visitation will be 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Monday, February 21.
“Like Jacob, we all walk with a limp. When it hurts, maybe it is supposed to hurt. It must have been designed that way. I have prayed that I be kept from bitterness, which God has answered. I pray also as I do for others, that I might live until I die. Everything is in His Hands.” Wendell Alan Davis (1941-2022)