Julian Davies

Obituary For Julian Davies

Julian Davies, 93, died peacefully and surrounded by family on February 2, 2025 near Vancouver, Canada. He is preceded in death by his wife Dorothy, sister Janette Hunter, grandson Michael Joyce, granddaughter-in-law Rachel Adair, and parents Lilian and Norman Davies. He is survived by his children Victoria Davies (James Joyce), Robin Davies, Jeremy (Peg) Davies, his grandchildren Erin Joyce, Jesse Collins-Davies, Madeleine Davies, Shannon Coyne, Isabel Davies, Maya Davies, and Valentina DiNovella, and his great-grandchildren Ethan and Alexander Coyne.

Born January 9, 1932 in Neath, Wales, Julian excelled in the sciences from an early age. In high school, he received a scholarship to study chemistry at the University of Nottingham, where he went on to earn his PhD. In 1956, he became a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University in New York City. While at a party at International House, he was introduced to Dorothy “Dottie” Olney. Immediately smitten, Julian boldly offered to cook her a “real Welsh meal” for their first date, which unbelievably worked for him. Over the next several months, he wooed her with more tried and true methods of love letters and trips to the theater.

In December of 1957, they married in Dottie’s hometown of Waltham, Massachusetts. They remained deeply devoted to one another for the next 60 years, largely inseparable as they worked and traveled around the world, forging life-lasting friendships wherever they went. Julian and Dottie’s romance remained remarkable and aspirational until and beyond Dottie’s death in 2017. More admirable still was the mutual respect they held for one another, which extended into all aspects of their lives and served as the foundation of their family.

Julian and Dottie’s first child Victoria was born in 1958, while Julian was completing his second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Their second child, Robin, was born in 1961 while Julian was lecturing at the Manchester College of Science and Technology in England. Soon thereafter, Julian shifted his focus to microbiology and, while working at the Harvard Medical School in 1964, he and Dottie had their third child, Jeremy.

Julian’s advancements in the field of microbiology brought him international renown: Twice, he worked at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, first as a postdoctoral fellow in 1965 and again as the Director of Microbial Engineering in 1985. From 1974-75, he and his family spent a sabbatical year in Geneva Switzerland, where he later returned to serve as the Scientific Director of company Biogen at the dawn of biotechnology. For his work in the sciences, he was inducted as a fellow into the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Canada, and as an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. His long term academic and professional homes were at the UW - Madison, where he worked as a professor in the Biochemistry Department, and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Julian was an integral part of the UBC science community as head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and director of the Life Sciences Institute. His work has been published over 700 times. To quote Nature Biotech Journal, “Julian Davies is a biotech vanguardist.”

A friend and colleague once said Julian was never “happier than when he’s in a laboratory looking at a Petri dish with bacteria growing on it and talking with some student.” His family can attest to both his passion for people and scientific research, as exemplified as his many “official” retirements that never seemed to last long before he was back in the lab. While microbes and DNA sequencing were never (if ever) far from his mind, Julian met life’s other adventures with similar joie de vivre and enthusiasm. He loved many things, particularly time with family. Few things ignited him more than a rollicking debate with loved ones, especially over good food and wine (and even more so when he knew he could argue his kids and grandchildren under the table). Though a proud Welshman, he did not consider himself nationalistic unless Wales was playing England at Rugby.

While Julian possessed the sharpest of wits, he was also capable of immense feeling. He expected and hoped for those around him to experience their fullest potentials and would do what he could to help them reach it. He was deeply grieved by the passing of his sister and long term partner in mischief Janette in 2014. As his wife Dottie struggled with vascular dementia at the end of her life, he treated her with the same tenderness and care that had come to define their relationship. Over the past several years, Julian lost many of his most precious faculties to his own battle with dementia. While it was painful to watch parts of his memory slip away, it was also remarkable how, ever the scientist, he continued to greet discoveries new and old with curiosity and wonder.

Julian’s family, friends, and colleagues miss him immensely, but know that he, having chosen to be terramated, will be further immersed into the microbial community he loved so much.

Julian developed a late-in-life passion for trees, marveling at their beauty and the ways they communicate through mycorrhizal networks (i.e. microbes!). In lieu of flowers, we invite you to plant a tree in his honor via this memorial webpage.

A Laying-In Ceremony for Julian will be held on Friday, March 7, 2025, 2:00pm at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, 1207 Ellsworth St, Bellingham, WA. For those unable to attended in person, you are invited to join a live stream of the service on Zoom.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81094564679?pwd=X32FRgj4JwuWdEMQ7tS6jTN6ciExN5.1

Meeting ID: 810 9456 4679
Passcode: 359811

Following the Laying-In Ceremony, Julian's family invites you to join them for an evening Celebration of Julian's Life at Ponderosa Beer and Books, 1225 Roeder Ave, Suite 101, Bellingham, WA. Please come prepared to share stories, memories, and toasts. Food and drinks will be provided.

Julian loved colorful socks. His family invites to wear a pair in his honor.

Hedd, perffaith hedd.

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Services

Laying-In Ceremony

Mar

7

Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship

1207 Ellsworth St
Bellingham, WA 98225

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Get Directions

Celebration of Life

Mar

7

Ponderosa Beer and Books

1225 Roeder Ave
Bellingham, WA 98225

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Get Directions