Davis

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Davis

Selma Roseman Davis, 82, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully on May 17, 2022. She is survived by her three children: Wendy Pollack (Ted Pollack), Sally, and Morris (Kim Liddle); and seven grandchildren: Kayla, Harrison, Josephine, Jackson, Lauren, Luke, and Brett. Her adored husband, Edgar, died in 2017.

Selma was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1957, then earned a B.A. (1961) and M.A. (1962) in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa.

She met Edgar in Atlantic City during Labor Day weekend, 1961. They married 14 months later. The couple lived in Philadelphia until 1969, when they moved their growing family over the city line to Bala Cynwyd. They were virtually inseparable for well over 50 years.

In addition to raising her family, Selma taught psychology at Community College of Philadelphia and had a career as a researcher. She was an avid reader and writer, authoring four mystery novels set in Hawaii.

Selma and Edgar traveled widely as a couple, visiting Hawaii (a favorite destination), Puerto Rico, Alaska, Montana, Washington, and other locales in the United States.

Prior to her marriage, Selma also traveled to Israel (where she witnessed one session of Adolf Eichmann’s trial) and across Europe.

Fluent in Russian and French, Selma loved music and was an accomplished pianist and cellist. Among other efforts supporting the arts, she co-founded the community Merion Musical Society orchestra and band and continued to lead the organization for over a decade.

Selma wrote for the Main Line Life newspaper, where her articles won several awards. She was outgoing and personable and enjoyed friendships with people she interviewed in her travels, among them a mayor of Honolulu, a governor of Alaska, Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Senator Arlen Specter, and (perhaps her most treasured encounter) actor Robert Wagner.

Funeral and Ashes Scattering will be held June 1 at 1 pm at West Laurel Hill Funeral Home, 225 Belmont Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA, 19004. Services are outdoors. Please wear a mask.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that all donations be made in Selma’s name to https://www.alivingtribute.org. This organization plants trees “under the supervision of the Forest Service…on designated National Forests and State Parks in dire need of restoration.”