LIFE & TIMES


Maryland Will Miss... Sheila Janney Williams of


Glyndon died on June 17 at the age of 86. Williams was a prominent fi gure on the stee- plechase circuit as longtime National Steeplechase Asso- ciation owner since the early 1980s. One of her earliest winners was Maryland-bred Call Louis, who won nearly $100,000 in 25 starts with 10 wins, four seconds and four thirds. Williams campaigned horses under her own name as well as in partnership with others including Northwoods Stables and with the late Andre Brewster.


Richard J. Meyer died on June 20 at the age of 81. Mey- er was a T oroughbred owner and advocate for horsemen and backstretch workers at Maryland tracks. Meyer was instrumental in putting to- gether the Maryland T or- oughbred Horsemen’s As- sociation (MTHA) Pension Plan, which currently con- tributes $1 million each year to support the backstretch community. Meyer was raised in St. Louis, MO, where


Meyer was a MTHA Board of


Directors member and served as president before Keefe was elected in 2014. He was also president of the Maryland Horsemen’s Assistance Foun- dation, which provides fi nan- cial assistance to those in need.


Rosalee Cohen Davison of Sheila Janney Williams


Pikesville died on June 30. She was 92. Davison was a designer and philanthropist who also owned and bred T oroughbred racehorses.


Richard J. Meyer www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580


he played soccer, basketball and football. He graduated from St. Louis University in 1963 before moving to Maryland to work for the federal National Security Agency as a math- ematician. He received the NSA Exceptional Civilian Service Award. He retired after 30 years to work for defense contractor Raytheon. He returned to NSA fi ve years later before moving to Federal Data Systems. He remained there until his death. In 1984, Meyer partnered with a group of associates to purchase three T oroughbred racehorses. He had a passion for researching bloodlines and created M.O.M Stables. Jo- sephine Owens and Timothy Keefe were his main trainers. “Richard was not only a friend I trained for, but a business partner,” Keefe told MTHA. “We owned horses together for many years, and he was a wonderful friend and a father fi gure. As far as the racing business, he let me know I could do what I needed to do. It was always about being in the best interest of the horse, be it racing them or deciding when to retire a horse.”


Davison was born in Baltimore and was the daughter of Zelda Greenberg and Ben Co- hen. At one time, Cohen co-owned Pimlico and Bowie racetracks with his brother Herman Cohen. Da- vison graduated from For- est Park High School before earning a history degree from Syracuse University where she met her future husband, Rich- ard Davison. T ey were mar- ried in 1952. Later in life, she earned a design degree from the Mary- land Institute College of Art


and began decorating model homes for her family’s building and development business in Baltimore and in Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia. Davison also earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She was a docent for over 26 years at the Wal- ters Art Museum and later was a founder and vice-chair of its Women’s Committee. Davison also served on the board of trustees for 19 years. Davison owned numerous winning T or-


oughbreds including Hail to All who won the Belmont Stakes in 1965. Other notable winners were Upbeat and Guilty Conscience. She man- aged Bowie Race Course’s track refurbishment after her father and uncle bought the track in 1983.


Event rider and trainer


Kristen Mattson Gray of Union Bridge died on July 4 from a motorcycle accident. She was 52. Gray gradu- ated from Magruder High School before graduating from St. Leo University.


After a career with Montgomery County Fire Rescue, Gray started her own business, KMG Sport Horses, breeding and training event horses, which she ran out of Full Circle Farm in Union Bridge. Gray was an accomplished rider and trainer with many students and horses mov- ing up the levels of the sport.


Gordon “Gordie” Chandler Keys died at his


home, Beaver Dam Farm in Middleburg, VA, on July 8 at the age of 89. Keys was born in Lay- tonsville and grew up in Olney with his mother Henrietta Howard Rigs and stepfather Rob- ert Hallowell Chichester. Keys graduated from Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring in 1951 and was drafted in the U.S. Army where he was stationed for two years at Fort Rucker, AL. After the Army, Keys earned a degree in ag-


riculture from the University of Maryland Col- lege Park. T ere he met Janice Oxley of Balti- more and they were married in 1959. Together they raised four children in Olney. Keys farmed Oatland in Olney with his stepfather. When his stepfather passed away, Keys took over manage- ment of the farm where he raised crops, sod, hay, hogs, Angus cattle and T oroughbred racehorses. Keys divorced and moved to Middleburg,


VA, where he continued to raise cows and T oroughbreds. He later married Mary Kay Garwood Sterling in 1998. Together they oper- ated Beaver Dam Farm for 25 years. T eir race- horses ran mainly on the Maryland and Vir- ginia steeplechase circuit where the couple was noted to host epic tail- gates. Notable winners included I’m a Hokie, Tom Hagen and stakes winner Grateful Bred. Keys was also a fox- hunter who rode with Redland Hunt and was a founding mem- ber of Goshen Hunt.


Kristen Mattson Gray THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | AUGUST 2023 | 47 Comings & Goings


Congratulations to Michael Calkins, who has been named Assistant Secretary of the Offi ce of Plant Industries and Pest Man- agement. Many will recognize his voice, as Calkins has been the emcee at the Lisbon Horse Parade for several years.


of Marylanders


Maryland Jockey Club


Todd Marks/National Steeplechase Association


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