EDMONDS – John Frederick Davis, a longtime Shell Oil Co. chemical engineer who helped develop the lightweight plastic polypropylene, is dead at 75.
Davis died Nov. 4 after a long decline caused by dementia, relatives said.
Born in Wakefield, R.I., he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in chemical engineering, attended graduate school at Yale University and spent 33 years at Shell, retiring in 1986 as a senior process engineer.
Davis played a key role on a team that worked to refine and develop uses for polypropylene, a polymer with uses ranging from dishwasher-safe plastic food containers to fiber for the indoor-outdoor carpeting found at swimming pools and miniature golf courses.
After retiring Davis moved from Houston to Edmonds, spending much of his time as a volunteer in the literacy program at Everett Community College and in the pharmacy at Stevens Memorial Hospital.
Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Carol; a son, the Rev. John Davis, a Lutheran minister in Giddings, Texas; daughters Martha Tazioli of Seattle and Andrea Mansfield of Fremont, Calif.; brother William Davis of Branford, Conn.; sister Dorothea Clairess of Wickford, R.I., and 11 grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Monday.
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