R-MA’s “RAD” dies; students honor his name

Robert Davies – Courtesy Photo R-MA

FRONT ROYAL, VA – My son’s Randolph-Macon Academy English Department teacher – and teacher of upper school children from Front Royal and around the world – died last week, prompting students to post “Be RAD” signs around the campus in his memory.

R A D were the initials of Robert A. (Bob) Davies, 66, an academic staff member of R-MA for the past 20 years who was affectionately known by students and staff alike by his initials, also by his occasional exhortation to his class members to “be RAD today!”

Davies eventually became Department Chair of Upper School English at R-MA with a particular interest in British literature, almost always using Charles Dickens as a research project for freshmen entering his class for the first time. This engendered a decade long, long-distance relationship, with Dr. A.R. (Roger) Wilkes, the now-retired headmaster of the historic (1585) Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School (QEGS) in the United Kingdom.

Wilkes, still an annual visitor to Front Royal, hosted R-MA students in England during an academic exchange program between the two schools over a 12-year period. One of the early groups was led by Davies and he last met with RAD last summer at a reunion of Wilkes and R-MA staff members, hosted by this writer and his wife, Carol. Barr Sr. was president of the R-MA Parent-Teacher Association in 2002, attended Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School 1944-49, and was a founder of the student exchange.

Said Wilkes upon hearing of Davies’s passing: “Bob was a pleasant, very scholarly man and a very good teacher… over the years we became good friends (and) exchanged books. Like me, he was a great fan of P.G. Wodehouse and Charles Dickens.”

He recalled hosting Davies when the English teacher visited the U.K.on one of the first R-MA – QEGS international exchanges.

Michael Williams, a longtime friend, and former R-MA staff member, remembers Davies fondly. He, too, said he shared a love of Charles Dickens and other Victorian-era authors with Davies.

While appreciated by the hundreds – perhaps thousands – of children who passed through his classes and on to college and adulthood, Davies was also honored by their parents. He was a recipient of the R-MA Parents’ Association “Teacher of the Year” award (2005-06) and twice received the “Educator of Distinction Award” presented by Dr. Claes Nobel of the National Academy of High School Scholars. He received his undergraduate degree (B.A) from Roanoke College and his M.A. from Shenandoah University.

Brig. Gen. David Wesley, R-MA president, said a memorial service is planned at the campus chapel. He said he and the family were discussing a date later this month that would be announced later.