Herman Davison passed away recently, and we lost a good man. In the early Seventies, I spent some time with him as he made his rounds as a New Hampshire Department of Fish & Game officer. I was doing a story on him for New Hampshire Outdoorsman magazine. He dealt with the public firmly and fairly, mixing compassion and people skills with his officer survival tactics. For many years, he was the winner of the New Hampshire Police Officers Association annual handgun match, the de facto state championship for cops. He also taught shooting at the state academy.
Each year, I got to see him when we both shot the Pin Shoot in Michigan. This year, two months before his death, Herm was ravaged by the cancer that would soon kill him but still stood resolutely on the competition firing line…and still hit what he was aiming at.
He was the epitome of the “nice guy.” When my older daughter learned of his passing, she reminisced, “When I was little and we were all at the range, he always made sure I was hydrated and didn’t skip lunch.”
Herm had a unique, low-key sense of humor. He genuinely cared about people. He was the sort of lawman we all want policing our community.
Herm Davison is greatly missed by all who knew him. Godspeed, brother…