In Loving Memory
Jim Davidson, Jr., M.D.
Jim Davidson was born in Springfield, MA., January 19, 1942 and died in Tacoma, June 16, 1996, after a twenty-three year residence.
Jim grew up in Wichita, KS. graduating there first in his high school class in 1960. In l964 he graduated cum laude with majors in History and Biology and in 1968 from the Medical School at Washington University, St. Louis. After an internship at Detroit General Hospital and a year of residency at the University of Washington Hospitals, he spent two years as a Medical Officer in the U.S. Navy. Following a year a General Practice in Port Townsend, he moved to Tacoma where he practiced full-time Emergency Medicine at Tacoma General and Allenmore Hospitals for the next 23 years.
During this time, he became Board Certified in Emergency Medicine and was instrumental in obtaining departmental status for the Emergency Room. He was Director of the Emergency Department and served on the Executive Committee for many years. As one of the early practitioners of Emergency Medicine in the area, he was a prominent member of the state Emergency Medicine Society. He was a member of the Washington State 
Medical Association and the Pierce County Medical Society.
An avid booster of parks and recreation, Jim organized and coached many basketball and track teams for younger participants, was an active member of numerous Park District Committees, and was the Head Physician for both the Class A Basketball Tournament and Star Track for many years. In his spare time, a three or four day backpack alone or with a daughter was his soul’s tonic.
As a civic activist, he was one of the principal forces in bringing about controlled development in NE Tacoma through the Land Use Plan. He also was the citizen most responsible for the construction of the Browns Point Playfield and Track, a project built mostly with neighborhood funding and efforts, and what he considered his crowning achievement, The Centre at Norpoint. For several years he was the President of the Norpoint Boosters and was editor of a local newsletter.
He is succeeded by his wife of over 28 years, Madeline; three daughters, Jenny, Bonnie, and Anne-Marie; and his mother, Gladys. Services will be private. The family suggests memorials in lieu of flowers to The Nature’s Conservancy, or Rails to Trails, or the Tacoma General Hospital Emergency Medicine Fund.
In addition to our many friends, the family would like to especially thank the physicians, nurses and staff on the ST. Joseph’s Hospital Oncology Unit for all they have done and meant to us during Jim’s illness.
Editor’s Note: Many thanks to Anne-Marie Davidson for providing this obituary and several of Jim’s stories for this website. The obituary was originally published here in fall 2020.
