Thomas Sidney Davenport
Athlete, traveller, internationalist.. Born on Feb. 10, 1960, in Bristol, England; died on Nov. 21, 2014, in Cabin John, Md., of colorectal cancer, aged 54.
My firstborn son, Tom, was an adventurer from an early age, always keen to stir up a little excitement among his younger brother and two sisters. His father, Alan, was a civil engineer who travelled extensively and Tom inherited that enthusiasm. He combined his curiosity, energy and athleticism with a passion for international development and exploration.
Tom was born in England shortly before my husband and I returned to my native Canada, settling in London, Ont., where Alan joined the engineering faculty at the University of Western Ontario. Over the years, our family travelled to the U.K., Belgium, Australia and New Zealand.
Tom was an exceptional athlete. He played hockey, tennis, sailed, and enjoyed winter camping with a friend, an experience that would be useful later in life. One escapade which had his father's consent (if not mine!) was a cycling trip from London to the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He earned his B.A. in political science from Western; studied for a time at Rhodes University in South Africa, and earned a graduate degree in African studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
After travelling for several months in Africa as a freelance journalist, Tom moved to Washington, D.C., in 1986 to work for the Canadian embassy. Through his job he met Gail Campbell, an Ottawa-area native working for the International Finance Corporation. Their courtship included hiking B.C.'s West Coast Trail and climbing Mount Kenya. They married in 1988 and honeymooned in Auyuittuq National Park in Nunavut and Cape Breton, N.S. Their son, Ryan, was born a year later.
Tom subsequently joined the IFC, launching a career that would take him around the world. The family lived in Ghana for three years after which Tom took a posting to Vietnam. He and Ryan shared a love of hockey and, despite his overseas postings, Tom was a respected coach on his son's teams for many years.
In December, 2006, Tom was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. After radiation, surgery and chemotherapy, he decided to move ahead with his dream of travelling to the South Pole (he had always been fascinated by explorers such as Ernest Shackleton). He dedicated this personal challenge to increasing awareness of the disease and raising money for cancer research. He trained hard, walking up to four hours a day wearing a harness pulling car tires, to simulate hauling a sled over snow.
The expedition left in late 2008. Tom skied 1,100 kilometres to the pole in 54 days, with three other adventurers, guided by Sarah McNair Landry. After reaching the pole, Tom and Sarah kite skied back to the base in 12 days. When he returned to Toronto (40 pounds lighter) he was greeted at Pearson airport by an excited crowd of family and friends. Gail met him in Washington and they travelled the same day to Ryan's Junior A hockey game in New Hampshire.
Within months of returning from Antarctica, Tom moved to India to take what had long been a dream job, representing the IFC in South Asia. The cancer recurred in late 2011 and he entered a new round of treatments in New Delhi and Washington, where he returned in 2013. He became a student of his disease – researching drug trials, studying new developments in treatment, undaunted, courageous and optimistic to the end. Celebrations of his life were held in New Delhi, Hanoi and Washington.
Sheila Davenport is Tom's mother.