Elizabeth Davis

Elizabeth Menzel Davis, 84, of Belmont and Woods Hole, MA, died of leukemia on Feb 1, 2014 surrounded by her three children. She grew up in Cambridge, and graduated from the Buckingham School '47 and Radcliffe College '51.

Violinist, violist, teacher, and conductor, classical music filled her life. During summers in Woods Hole, she co-directed Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and conducted the Woods Hole Cantata Consort. Even as her health failed, she played quartets and attended music camps. Arguably, her greatest talent was making world-class 1:12 scale violins from rare woods and eye surgical thread, each outfitted with functioning tuning pegs and a tiny label bearing her name painted with a one-hair brush.

Liz lived at the center of a rich social world, and many people thought of her as a second mother. The daughter and wife of renowned scientists, she maintained deep ties to the scientific community. Outspoken and widely read, she was also a fierce critic of the anti-science movement.

Married to Bernard D. Davis (d. 1994), daughter of Donald H. and Florence K. Menzel, she is survived by sons Franklin and Jonathan of Newton, MA, daughter Kate of New York City; sister Suzanne Lindeman Snyder of Austin, TX; six grandchildren: Juliet and Jonah Ryan-Davis, Jeremiah and Rowan Davis, Quentin and Katrina Heilbroner, and beloved nieces and nephews: Susan Fliegel; Carol, Jim (d. 2012) and Anne Lindeman; David, Paul and Emily Cahan; Ellen and Carol Waitzkin and Susan Waitzkin Slavin.

A memorial was held this summer (2014) in Woods Hole.