Eugene Davidson's Obituary
Just a few days shy of what would have been his 93rd birthday, our beloved Eugene Davidson lost his valiant 4-year battle with cancer. He left us with warm memories of a devoted husband, father, brother, cousin, and deep friendships. He now rests without further pain or suffering, Gene was born to Russian-Jewish emigres who came to the USA for a better and safer life. His parents divorced when he was only five years old, so he spent weekdays in the Bronx with his maternal relatives - his mother, his grandparents, and his deeply beloved uncle Sol (Solomon Deutsch), and his weekends with his paternal family - his father Jack and all the aunts and uncles and cousins who lived nearby. His mother took him to acting school (the Juvenile Theater of Art), and by the time Gene was 9, he had appeared as “Gene Douglas” on the Broadway stage (as one of many child actors in the cast of “The American Way”), in a short film (“People Like Us,” filmed in New York starring Henry Armetta), and on radio several times on a popular children’s program called “Let’s Pretend.” At age 9, he spent a year in the fifth grade of a New York City public school, and at age 10 began high school at the Bronx High School of Science. He graduated from UCLA as a chemistry major, and received his Ph.D, in Biochemistry at Columbia University. His first academic position was in the Biochemistry Dept. at Duke University, where he rose to full Professorship, and was subsequently recruited to serve as the founding chair of Biochemistry at the Pennsylvania State Medical School at Hershey, PA. 20 years later, he was recruited as Chair of Biochemistry at Georgetown University School of Medicine, serving until retiring as Professor Emeritus 20 years later in 2008. His published papers included work on carbohydrate chemistry, glycobiology, vaccines, molecular analytics, and malaria, His serious hobbies were Bridge, travel, and fine food and wine. Most of his trips abroad included at least one meal at world-recognized restaurant. He leaves behind his wife of 33 years, Eve Ida Barak, and his four children, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren from his first marriage to the late Alice Howell Davidson: Mark (Joanna), Jackie & Micheal Fenton (James and Eleanor) and Matthew; Robin (Dominic Guiab), Hannah & Dominic II); Steven (Mary); and Ellen (Tarak Kauff), as well as his brother Howard (Laura Majerus) and nephew Corwin. Eugene will be laid to rest at Riverside Cemetery in Saddle Brook, NJ on Sunday, May 21st, 2023.
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