Willia Faye Davis

Willia Faye 'Snookie' Davis, beloved mother of Karen Winfield and Sharen Rumberger went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and her beloved husband, Dean Davis on October 4th, 2010 after a brief illness. Willia Faye was born in Bakersville, North Carolina. She lost her own mother when she was two years old, and was raised by two loving aunts in Spruce Pine, North Carolina and Johnson City, Tennessee during the tough Great Depression years. She would tell us about her aunts helping to feed the homeless and jobless people for thirty-five cents per meal, never turning away a hungry person. She also told of being carried across an icy bridge to school during the cold winters in the North Carolina Mountains. Willia Faye graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in Education. While there, she met the love of her life, Dean Davis, who was a student after returning home from WWII. After teaching the fourth grade in West Palm Beach, Florida for two years, she married Dean. They had twin daughters, Sharen and Karen. Willia Faye was our devoted mother, a stay-at-home mother as were many of her generation. Her primary concern was always her family. Dean and the children never left for work or school without a hot breakfast, and always had a home-cooked meal at the end of the day. Her greatest gift to her husband and children was her unconditional love and support. Willia Faye and Dean lived in Savannah, Georgia for thirteen years, Silver Springs, Maryland for ten years, and moved to Gainesville, Florida in1972 with Deans job with the Department of Agriculture. She loved Gainesville, and they lived there until Deans illness and death in 2007. While in Gainesville, she was active in her Ladies Bible Class with the First Presbyterian Church. Willia Faye and Dean were lifelong members of the First Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Silver Springs, and Gainesville. She also enjoyed crafting, cooking, sewing, and ceramics. Willia Faye and Dean traveled all over the Carribean and Hawaii and the United States and enjoyed old friends and making new friends. Willia Faye was preceded in death by Dean F. Davis, her loving husband of fifty-nine years. She leaves behind her twin daughters, Karen Winfield and husband Cliff, Sharen Rumberger and her husband Dr. Gerard Rumberger. She leaves nine grandchildren: Jennifer, Joe, Lindsay, Kimberly and Sarah Rumberger, Nancy Pinzano and husband Anthony, Jordan, Jonathan, and Michael Maruszak, and one great grandson, Joey Rumberger. The loss of our mother, Willia Faye Davis, leaves us with unending heartache, but also a sense of joy that she has been reunited with Dean and her own mother, and has seen the face of Jesus. Graveside services for Mrs. Willia Faye Davis will be held at 11:00 am Friday, October 8, 2010 in the Monte Vista Memorial Park. Rev. Sharon Amstutz will officiate. Morris-Baker Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 2001 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, TN., 423-282-1521, is in charge of arrangements.