About | Lawrence F. Davidson

Early Life & Family

Lawrence F. “Larry” Davidson grew up on a small farm north of Toledo, Washington, in a family whose connection to the Toledo area reaches back to 1900. Known as Larry to family and friends, he grew up in a rural community where school, agriculture, family, and community life were closely connected.

During high school, Larry was active in FFA, band, and track. He was particularly successful in track, winning the district championship in the 440-yard dash, the event roughly equivalent to today’s 400 meters. FFA was a natural part of growing up in an agricultural community, while his participation in band provided an early connection with music—an interest that would surface again much later in his life through songwriting.

His interest in engineering developed during the early American space program. As NASA pushed the boundaries of technology and worked toward sending astronauts into space and ultimately to the Moon, Larry became fascinated by the engineering behind those achievements. Engineering offered a way to understand how things worked and how ideas that once seemed impossible could be turned into reality.

Education, Aviation & Career

After high school, Larry attended Centralia College, earning an Associate Degree in Science. During his final quarter there, he entered the United States Air Force Reserve. He then continued his education at the University of Washington, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.

During the early 1970s, Larry also earned his private pilot’s license and flew primarily Cessna 172s. Aviation became another expression of the interest in technology and engineering that had begun during his youth.

Education continued throughout his professional life. Larry later earned a Master of Business Administration and completed a Master’s Certificate in International Business, along with additional professional development in project management and process improvement.

Beginning in 1972, his professional career spanned approximately 50 years before his full retirement in 2022. His work ranged from engineering and medical technology to manufacturing, information systems, consulting, business, project management, and the development and deployment of large scientific systems.

The details of that professional journey, the technologies involved, and the projects undertaken are presented on the Career page.

Travel & Perspective

Larry’s professional career provided opportunities to travel extensively throughout the United States and internationally. His work took him repeatedly to Germany and Mexico, as well as to France, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, along with travel in Canada.

Much of that travel was associated with his professional work, but some of the most lasting impressions had little to do with the work itself.

As he traveled, Larry often noticed something familiar, particularly in smaller towns and communities. Languages, architecture, food, landscapes, and customs could be very different, yet many of the things that made a community feel like a community were remarkably similar. There were local gathering places and businesses, traditions people valued, stories about the community’s past, and people who took pride in the place they called home.

Those experiences reinforced his appreciation for local identity and for the everyday stories that seldom find their way into history books. They also provided a broader perspective when he eventually returned his attention to the community where his own story had begun.

Years later, those observations would influence both his community work and his songwriting. The developing Small Town Dreams collection, in particular, draws upon that experience—the recognition that small towns separated by thousands of miles and very different cultures can still share surprisingly familiar qualities.

Returning to the Toledo Area

With more time available to pursue personal interests, Larry increasingly turned his attention to the community connected to his own family history. That involvement brought together an interest in preserving and interpreting Toledo-area history with an equally strong interest in the community’s future.

That combination of history and community development became central to the work of Greater Toledo Heritage and Horizons (GTHH), a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization for which Larry serves as President and Executive Director. Its work reflects the idea that preserving a community’s story and helping build its future can be complementary goals.

The projects have ranged widely, including historical research and preservation, education and STEM activities, environmental and park projects, and community improvement efforts. Skills developed over a lifetime of engineering and project management found a new application: identifying a need, developing a plan, bringing people and resources together, and finding a practical way to move an idea forward.

One continuing focus has been the historic steamboat Toledo, built in 1878 and once part of life along the Cowlitz River. Research into the vessel has grown into related historical and interpretive projects, including construction of a large working radio-controlled model. In 2028, the 150th anniversary of the Toledo’s 1878 maiden voyage will provide an opportunity to commemorate the steamboat and the communities and people connected by the Cowlitz River.

A New Way to Tell Stories

Another unexpected direction emerged through songwriting. What began as another way of telling historical stories developed into River Songs and Steamboat Tales, a collection of fourteen original songs inspired by the rivers, steamboats, communities, and people of the Cowlitz River Valley.

Songwriting also opened the door to subjects beyond history. The developing Small Town Dreams collection draws upon memories of small-town life and the similarities Larry encountered in communities during decades of travel.

Engineering and songwriting might seem to occupy very different worlds, but they share something fundamental: both begin with an idea and require finding a way to turn that idea into something real.

More about Larry’s songwriting and recordings can be found on the Music page.

Today

Retirement has turned out to be less about stopping work than about having greater freedom to choose the work.

Today, Larry continues to pursue historical, educational, community, engineering, and creative projects—sometimes several at once. Some involve preserving things that might otherwise be forgotten. Others involve building something new. Still others begin simply with the question of whether an idea that seems worthwhile can actually be made to work.