Jared Aaron Davison

U.S. Army Spc. Jared Aaron Davison, 24, of Milford, N.H., died unexpectedly on September 4th while stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia. A cause of death has not been determined. Davison was serving as a watercraft engineer with the 558th Transportation Company, Special Troops Battalion, 7th Sustainment Brigade. He was born on February 20, 1988 in Boston, Massachusetts, the second of three children born from the union of Paula (Wrenn) and James Davison. Davison was a 2006 graduate of Milford High School. He attended Norwich Academy in Vermont and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He joined the 558th Transportation Company in August of this year. Jared was remembered by his parents, Paula and James Davison of Milford, as being a very considerate and kind son, brother and friend. “He had an infectious smile,” James said. “He could break you down with that smile.” As a boy, Jared “introduced” the tradition of hugging into his family, James recalled. “He taught us how to show affection. He taught us how to love in a different way. From him, I learned to love on a different level.” Jared was such a voracious reader that Wadleigh Memorial Library in downtown Milford became his second home. He eventually worked there part-time. His appetite for reading ranged from C.S. Lewis to Tom Clancy. In school, Jared was solid student. He played lacrosse and ran cross-country. He was a youth leader in his church and during the summer, he worked as a counselor at Camp Lawroweld in Maine. At 16, Jared was inspired to join the Army after a family trip to Sequoia National Park where he discovered that one of the park’s first superintendents was Capt. Charles Young, a black cavalry officer and 1884 graduate of West Point. “By coincidence there was an African-American celebration the weekend we were there,” James said. “The program was about this officer who oversaw the park, how he was one of the first black graduates of the Academy and how he helped develop the park. We’ve always kept Jared’s copy of it.” Jared fell asleep on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 in Fort Eustis, Virginia. Left to cherish his memories are his parents, James and Paula Davison; his brothers, Jeremy Davison and his wife, Amanda, and Jordan Davison; his paternal grandparents, Lesley B. and Lillie Mae Davison and maternal grandparents, Curtis and Yvonne Wrenn; his nephew, Darius Davison, his niece, Mariah Davison, and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives, his church family, and friends. Visiting hours are on Sunday, September 16th from 2:00-6:00 pm in the Smith & Heald Funeral Home, 63 Elm Street, Milford. Funeral services will be held on Monday at 10:00 am in Bethany Covenant Church, 1 Covenant Way, Bedford, NH. Burial with full military honors will follow in the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery, Boscawen, NH. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Wadleigh Memorial Library, 49 Nashua Street, Milford, NH 03055.