Friends and colleagues of Richard “Dick” Davies of Hallowell remember him as a passionate, intelligent advocate who was committed to bettering the lives of Mainers without ever seeking credit for his work.
Davies died at Captain Lewis Residence in Farmingdale on Sept. 19 from complications of dementia. He was 76.
Those who worked closely with Davies throughout his career said his quiet work advocating for Mainers, especially on the topic of regulating utilities for ratepayers, was ahead of its time and continues to shape the state today.
Davies was born on August 21, 1947, in Plainfield, New Jersey, and moved to Maine when he was 14. He graduated from Sanford High School in 1965 then received a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Maine at Orono in 1969. He then earned a master’s degree in History from UMaine in 1972 with a thesis on the Penobscot River.
His career in advocacy began in college when he marched in support of local mill workers as a member of the Students for a Democratic Society, a national student activist organization.
After college, Davies joined the Americorps Volunteers in Service to America program in Minneapolis, an anti-poverty program aimed at providing resources to nonprofit organizations and public agencies. There, he worked to establish a bus line through the Native American community.
John Diamond, former majority leader of the Maine House of Representatives, met Davies at the University of Maine in Orono in 1973 when Diamond interviewed him for the campus radio station and the two became fast friends.
“He was running for the state legislature at the time and I was impressed with how smart and progressive he was on so many issues that happened to coincide with my interests,” Diamond said.
Jim Tierney, former Maine attorney general who now works as a professor at Harvard Law School, also met Davies around 1968 when they were both students at the University of Maine. The two even shared an Orono apartment as seniors.
Though the two collaborated during their professional careers, Tierney said his fondest memory with Davies is the time the pair attempted to cut down a pine tree on the UMaine campus to use as a Christmas tree. They were quickly caught by campus security and given a stern warning, he said.
Davies was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, representing the town of Orono while still in graduate school.
During his time in the Legislature from 1974 to 1982, Diamond said Davies was “ahead of the curve” on many issues, such as examining how utilities are regulated and financed, long before most people realized they were important.
“I looked at him as a mentor even though our age difference wasn’t significant and I learned a lot about public policy and politics from him,” Diamond said. “The most enduring lesson I learned is that it’s OK to be out in front on issues, even when people thought there wasn’t much need or merit for them.”
Davies also sponsored the first law in the nation to end mandatory retirement during his legislative career before leaving to become a senior policy advisor to Governor Joseph Brennan and Governor John Baldacci during their tenures.
While working for Brennan, Davies met his wife of 36 years, Susan MacPherson, while working to pass the Equal Rights Referendum in Maine. The pair got married in May 1987.
From 1986 to 1990, Davies served as the director of development and director of government relations at the Maine State Housing Authority where he advocated on behalf of communities to develop affordable housing and on behalf of tenants of publicly financed housing.
Some of Davies’ professional priorities include utility consumer advocacy and education issues that continue to shape Maine today, Diamond said. Perhaps his most notable accomplishment is helping to establish the state’s Public Advocacy Office, which he led from 2007 to 2013.
During his time as Maine’s Public Advocate he advocated for consumers and taxpayers before the Public Utilities Commission, the Maine Legislature and state and federal courts.
“His legacy is being a person who was an advocate and wanted to make a difference in his life,” Diamond daid. “He certainly did that, and we’re all the better for it.”
After retiring in 2013, Davies served as the treasurer for Kennebec County and wrote a book, “The King’s Gold Double Leopards,” which published in 2022.
Despite his accomplishments that continue to benefit Mainers today, Tierney and Diamond said Davies never pushed his own agenda, tried to take credit for his work or bragged about his success.
“There are so many people who benefited from him and his work who will never know his name or see his footprints,” Tierney said. “His legacy is that we’re all living better lives because of him.”