It didn’t take a long time for people to realize that Peter Davis’s hero was Frank Sinatra. It wasn’t only Peter’s singing — he could dominate karaoke—or his roving eye for a slim skirt. It was Peter’s swagger and style. Peter died in his sleep on July 13 at age 79 at his home in Delray Beach, Florida where he lived since migrating from New York in 2002. He is missed by friends and family who swap

Peter Davis tales. 

    This is a guy who lived for years on a houseboat with a hot tub on the roof, which never moved more than a foot from the shore, and who made a business out of his hobby of messing around with plexiglass. In “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman was told that plastics were the wave of the future. Peter took that advice and set up a factory to make plexiglass chess sets and furniture in what was then a poor section of Brooklyn. When he needed workers, he said, all he had to do was open the window and yell “Trabajo.”

   He had a strong sense of style. Florida bank tellers remember him as the guy in the lobby with Elton John glasses who dressed in flashy colors, especially pink. He joked about being insulted that gay men didn’t flirt with him. “That’s what you’re wearing?” Peter would ask the understated. “That’s so boring. Add some color!”

   Before Elvis, Peter decorated his Queens apartment with fur walls. In Dix Hills, Long Island, he chose colored neon lighting for his windows, diner style. In Florida, he went with mirrors and marble floors. From the time he was a child, he wanted to be rich. While other kids nagged their parents for a baseball glove, Peter asked his for a model of a Rolls Royce, which he cherished. As an adult, he was able to afford some of the high life. He bought a cream-colored Rolls Royce convertible and kept a jar of Grey Poupon mustard in the front console. Yes, he did have Grey Poupon, he told drivers who pulled up next to him and wanted to reenact the 1981 TV ad.

   Then there are the women. He married four of them (consecutively), and all of them were knockouts. Sadly, two of them predeceased him. His starter wife, Madalyn Weiskopf, died young after they divorced. Peter nursed wife number three, Barbara Carlson, an actress and schoolteacher, through a long, terrible disease. He will be buried next to her.

    He leaves behind two other exes. Carolyn Davis was his second wife and the mother of his two wonderful children, New Jersey surgeon Damien Davis and New Paltz, N.Y. day care entrepreneur Courtney Platt. Wife number four Leslie Rea lives in Florida. After they divorced, they later became pals. For wedding number four, Damien printed t-shirts that read, “I have been to all four of Peter Davis’s weddings.” When Peter FaceTimed with yet another woman after the last divorce, Damien would have one of his kids ask her, “Are you going to be our new grandma?”

    Peter’s two kids married well, and Peter was proud of them too. Damien’s wife Alanna Zahn Davis is a communication’s powerhouse, and Courtney’s husband Josh Platt is a much needed public school teacher. 

    Peter had five terrific grandchildren who he called his “crew,” and who correctly pegged him as a character and charmer. Each carried something of their grandfather. Harrison, 17, is starting university this year in Peter’s adopted state of Florida, Asher, 17, has Peter’s

entrepreneurial zeal. Max, 16, has something of his zany outlook. Risa, 14, has his singing ability. Sydney,14, has his athleticism. (Peter played college tennis at NYU.)

    Peter made friends easily and kept them. He was often awash in nostalgia about growing up in a Queens garden apartment complex, Deepdale, and spending summers at a bungalow colony in Spring Valley, N.Y., Deerkill. When someone from the old neighborhood visited, he would inevitably open a bottle and telephone his younger brother Bob. “Hey, guess who is drinking with me?” It wasn’t tough to guess.

    Peter wasn’t much of a reader, but he was proud of Bob, who became a Wall Street Journal reporter, his wife Debra Bruno, also a writer, and their children Joanna and Daniel. He loved to brag about his family. When asked what he would say about his uncle for this obituary, Daniel said, “when I think of larger life, I think of Peter.”  Peter did it his way.

Peter’s funeral – a celebration of life--will be held at 9 am , July 26 at Dodge Thomas Funeral Home, 26 Franklin Ave., Glen Cove, N.Y. At 10 a.m., the ceremony will continue three miles away at Locust Valley Cemetery at 117 Ryefield Road in Locust Valley, N.Y.

Here is what you need to know: Peter’s grandkids came up with a great theme for the day: ‘Dress to Impress.” We are asking mourners and celebrants to dress in Peter’s signature style. Colors, prints. Try to impress even Peter.

In lieu of flowers, feel free to send donations to Blood Cancer United, a charity that funds important cancer research.