ST SEBASTIAN’S

In 1983, as his business and family were thriving, Ed and Toni
made the decision to send their sons to St. Sebastian’s. The choice
was first made about their eldest son, Keith ’88, who was earning
high grades in public school without being challenged.
Davis recalled, “Keith was getting A’s. I looked at his work
and I saw it wasn’t ‘A’ work. My wife knew it wasn’t. I consulted
with Monsignor Keating, and both boys applied and came [to St.
Sebastian’s].”
The same year that Keith began at St. Sebastian’s, the School
moved from Newton to Needham. Davis used his distribution
equipment to play an instrumental part in St. Sebastian’s move.
“The year Keith started in the seventh grade—I was working in
the food business and I had plenty of trucks at my disposal,” noted
Davis. “So when we moved during the winter vacation of 1982-83—I
got the trucks, Jack [Doherty ’62] got his two boys, I got my two
boys, and we took every single desk and moved them from Newton
over to Needham. By January 1, the kids were in a brand new place.”
While seeing his sons attend St. Sebastian’s, Davis came to
understand the bond of the School in an even deeper way.
He added, “As I have become more and more involved over the
years, I feel like I’ve progressed in my depth of understanding of the
School. It was an incredible place when I was graduated in 1965.
And some of the happiest years of my life were when I would come
to my sons’ sporting events or witness their academic achievements
while they were students from 1983-90. As a high school student
you don’t necessarily look at it as a family, but once my boys became
students I realized it really was a family.”
Davis even became a friend and mentor to some of the young
men in his sons’ classes, just as Henry Lane had taken Davis under
his wing years earlier. Davis sees himself and his friends as living
proof that the relationships at St. Sebastian’s span generations.
“Brian Dixon ’90 is one of my best friends and he’s probably
more than 20 years younger,” he noted. “I have my network and my
sons have theirs, but those networks connect.”
A few years ago Davis received a call and an offer that would
change his life and bring him back to his alma mater. With his
daughter, Lisa, almost ready to take over his business, he was ready
for a new challenge, and this opportunity was too good to be true.
“My daughter was two years into a five year program that
was preparing her to take over my business when I received a call
from Rich Arms, the Director of Alumni and Development at St.
Sebastian’s School,” noted Davis. “I thought he was going to ask me
for money and I was prepared to tell him the check was in the mail,
when he surprised me by asking, ‘How would you like to come work
at your favorite School?’”
Turning his business over to his daughter, Davis accepted the
offer and became the School’s Director of Alumni Relations. He
Pictured: Ed Davis ’65 (#33) and Bob Cronin ’65 (#83) clear the
way for Dick Grady ’65 (#5) to run the ball.
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