DAVIDSON, Mary Hamden

Mary Hamden Davidson, 81, died on May 7, 2006 at her home in Blacksburg Va.

She was born November 12, 1924 in Schenectady, N.Y. to John D. Hamden and Bessie Maude Foard Hamden. She graduated from Smith College in the Class of 1946, attended the National Institute of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., and was a member of the staff of Senator Irving Ives of New York.

After leaving Washington she was active in the League of Women Voters. At three different universities, as the wife of a college administrator, she contributed significantly to the work of offices where she had no title, but where the demands made on her abilities and energy were such that at least half the title should have been hers.

Her later work years were spent in real estate, where her greatest satisfaction came not from the many plaques and commissions but from the experience of helping young first-home buyers find the closest thing to what they could afford.

She is survived by her husband, James F. Davidson, Blacksburg, Va.; and by four children and three grandchildren: James Hamden Davidson, Arlington Va., Margaret Davidson Steininger (and Oliver Steininger), Innsbruck, Austria, Priscilla Lambson, Union W.Va., John E. Davidson (and Hannah and Zachary), Columbus, Ohio. Burial will be on the family property in Monroe County, W.Va. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Greater New Orleans, Youth Orchestra, 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 206, New Orleans, La. 70113.