Ann Davis Obituary

Ann Elizabeth Nilsson Davis
June 14, 1935 - December 14, 2023
Ann Elizabeth Nilsson Davis passed away peacefully at home in Tampa on December 14, 2023, in the presence of her sons, Scott and Thomas Kluksdahl. She was 88. Born to Nils and Evelyn (Rasmussen) Nilsson in Coos Bay, Ore. Ann spent her earliest years growing up along the Oregon and Washington coasts, where her father was a U.S. Coast Guard officer and her mother a school teacher, before claiming Seattle as her home town. There, she met her first husband, Harris Eudell Kluksdahl and settled in northern California by the early 1960's, raising three sons.
A few weeks ago, when asked what she would like included in her obituary - after a pause - Ann responded, 'Faith, Family, and Music.'
Ann was a congregant of Faith Lutheran and Good Shepherd Lutheran Churches in Marin County. She held a deep identification with her Scandinavian protestant heritage and loved the high Christian liturgy, yet she practiced and sustained a catholic spirituality of great intensity and depth over her lifetime. Ann taught Sunday school, sang and played piano in church choirs, participated in faith-based study groups, and shuttled carloads of youngsters off to choir rehearsals, confirmation classes, and outings.
As mother to three sons, she brought outdoor adventure to her family, arranging family camping and backpacking trips in the Trinity Alps, the Cascades, and the high Sierra, and along the coastlines of California and Oregon. Later in life, she organized family trips further afield – Great Britain, France, Peru, Ecuador, and Scandinavia. She made certain that her children received early musical training, cultivated a love of nature and wild places, and saw to it that her sons approached life with the same sense of curiosity, adventure and joy that she did.
Ann built and sustained friendships everywhere, and she cherished her joyous family of friends throughout her long life. She traveled, hiked, made music, attended concerts and lectures, and conversed. No one enjoyed the exchange of ideas and stories more than Ann. She explored Asia, Russia, Europe, the Holy Land, North and South America, and Africa with these friends. Ann was a life-long walker, and one of her favorite activities was joining her hiking group, the 'Graywackies,' on excursions throughout the Bay Area hills and beyond.
At her core, Ann was an artist. She began her musical training as a pianist early in childhood. Her musical gift manifested quickly. She accrued recognition by winning the prominent musical prizes throughout the Pacific Northwest, making her professional debut as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, and performing recitals and chamber music in her native region. She completed bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Washington, a second master's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and doctoral work in piano performance at the University of Washington. In the Bay Area, she concertized as a member of Opus 3, with Bonnie Rasmussen and Betty Musser. Sharing her love of music, she served as Visiting Professor of Music at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, and maintained a private piano studio for decades. Ann was an active musical citizen as well, volunteering on the boards of the Marin Symphony, the Marin Music Chest, the Thursday Musical Club and Mu Phi Epsilon. She took especial pleasure in her Marin Music Study Club membership. For a lifetime, Ann sought out beauty and cherished it in all its manifestations.
Ann was predeceased by her former husband, Harris Eudell Kluksdahl; her first-born son, James Harris Kluksdahl; and her second husband, W. Kenneth Davis. She is survived by her sons, Scott Nilsson Kluksdahl, Thomas Richard Kluksdahl (Joyce Parr); her grandson, Austin Vincent Kluksdahl; and her angel-cousin, Per-Ingvar Rosenberg (Birgitta Jönsson) and family.