Linda Davis displayed a love for writing throughout her life, a talent that she developed from a young age.
A longtime journalist, Davis began her newspaper career at the Hayward Daily Review before going on to the Valley Times and then the San Ramon Valley Times. Most recently, Davis continued her career as a freelance writer for the Hills Newspapers, the Piedmonter in particular, both of which are now part of the Bay Area News Group.
An Alameda native — it could be said that she left Alameda, but Alameda never left her — Davis died suddenly on May 8. She was 80. Family and friends gathered June 1 in the Calaveras County town of Copperopolis to celebrate her life.
“She wrote for the papers basically her whole life,” daughter Natalie Davis said. “She loved staying in the mix, and it gave her great joy to be involved. It was in her heart.”
Born Feb. 1, 1943, in Alameda to parents Gerry Schreiber and the former Carlotita de Obarrio, Linda Davis went on to graduate from Alameda High School in 1960. She later earned an associate of arts degree from Chabot College. Davis continued living in Alameda until later in the 1960s, when she married James Lee Davis and moved to Castro Valley, where she lived until late last year.
“Mom’s memories of Alameda were so close to her heart,” Natalie Davis said. “Although she resided in Castro Valley for about 55 years, she told me she always considered Alameda ‘home’ — years of beach days, the Naval Air Station, etc. She spent many years on Sherman Street with my grandmother as a little girl.”
Even years after moving off the island, Linda Davis was a frequent visitor to Alameda and places nearby.
“Just last year — before we made the move to the Sonora foothills — Mom and I made a weekly trip to Alameda to take the dogs to the dog park,” Natalie Davis said, “and then to the Buttercup Diner (in Jack London Square) … we frequented Jack London Square’s restaurants and shops (right across the estuary in Oakland).”
Linda Davis’s family misses her dearly. Friends, neighbors, professional colleagues and others in the communities that she served and where she lived miss her too. Perhaps none more than Alameda, the town in which she was born and raised, the place that never left her heart.
“Alameda was a very special place for Mom,” Natalie Davis said, “a place where many, many memories were made.”
Mike McGreehan is a former sports writer for the Bay Area News Group who especially enjoys soccer and baseball.