Greg Davis, 44, Left Bequest For Peaceful Park In Delridge

The "Welcome to Delridge" sign was draped in black yesterday in memory of Greg Davis.

The 44-year-old AIDS victim died Tuesday in Swedish Hospital.

But he left a legacy of community activism in southwest Seattle, including a bequest to help establish a city park on a vacant 100-foot-by-170-foot piece of city property at 26th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Brandon Street.

Mr. Davis, who in his last years had to feed himself intravenously because his AIDS-diseased body would not tolerate normal foods, arranged for about a third of the cost of the park to come from his estate. The Parks Department estimated the total cost at $380,000.

Among his many community projects, the former president and vice president of the Delridge Community Association had worked to save and restore Longfellow Creek, which is next to the proposed park.

The park "has been a goal of mine for the last six years at least," Mr. Davis said earlier this year, "but I was so busy with other projects I never pursued it."

His vision was for a quiet place without ball fields, but "green meadows and trees that people can enjoy," and perhaps a bandstand. He suggested several trees, including "chestnuts which yield fruit and trees which have spectacular fall colors . . . It's kind of my gift to the community."

A sister, Mary Davis of Seattle, said, "He was a fighter . . . and he kept fighting, and his concern was for the park. The community is what he thought about. That's where his heart was - right here in Delridge."

A native of Chicago, Mr. Davis earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon in 1971. He came to Seattle in 1972 and had lived in Delridge the past 16 years. He was a landscape architect in the Seattle area, but more recently worked as a physical therapist.

Last January the community honored him at a party in the Delridge Community Center, 4555 Delridge Way S.W. That's where the family has scheduled a memorial service to be held between 10 a.m. and noon Monday.

Besides Mary Davis, Mr. Davis is survived by another sister, Kathy Ahlbin, of Salem, Ore. The Forest Lawn Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Entombment will be in the main mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 6701 30th Ave. S.W.

The family suggests donations to Mr. Davis' park project at any branch of West One Bank.

Vivian McLean, a longtime Delridge activist and friend, said she and others plan to plant lavender-and-white chrysanthemums in front of the "Welcome to Delridge" sign this weekend as another tribute to Mr. Davis.

"He believed in people - that `it can be done.' "