Oleta Davis
Oleta Davis
1910-2016
Oleta Fannie Kearby Davis, 105 years, 9 months and 27 days old, and a long-time resident (1910 – 2001) of Van Zandt County, died May 23, 2016 in Fort Worth.
Mrs. Davis was a beloved mother, great grandmother, great-great grandmother, auntie and a friend to many people.
She was born on Aug. 26, 1910, near Canton, in the Cream Level Community (now known as the Little Hope-Moore Community). She attended the Cream Level School and lived and worked in the Little Hope Moore Community for 91 years, with the exception of two years during World War II when her husband was serving in the armed forces. One of those years, she lived in Canton and the other in Petersburg, Va.
Until her death, she was the oldest living member of the Little Hope Baptist Church.
For more than 25 years she and her husband, Sawnie E. Davis, owned and operated a grocery, feed and fertilizer business located on Hwy. 64, seven miles southeast of Canton. They purchased the business at the beginning of the Great Depression and sold the business in 1955. After selling the business, they ran their farms in Smith and Van Zandt counties where they also raised cattle.
Mrs. Davis also volunteered at the Canton Nursing Center for many years, receiving an award for having given more volunteer hours to the nursing center than any other individual.
She was an excellent cook; among her many specialties were macaroni and cheese, pot roast, coconut and chocolate cream pies, fried fruit pies and banana nut and Italian cream cakes.
She and her husband were also famous for their peanut brittle which they made in large quantities every Christmas to give to friends, neighbors and family members as Christmas gifts. She also enjoyed gardening, canning, doing fine needlework and piecing quilts.
In 2001, she moved to Denton to be near family. She lived independently at the Fairhaven Retirement Community until it closed in 2009.
From 2009 until Jan. 27, 2015, she lived independently at the Good Samaritan Village on Hinkle Drive in Denton. She then moved to Brookdale at Tanglewood Oaks, an assisted living residence in Fort Worth.
On March 27, 2016, she suffered a fall and, after spending 22 days in the hospital, lived her remaining days at Stonegate Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Worth.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy Jerome and Lucinda Elizabeth Shinn Kearby; her husband, Sawnie E. Davis; her oldest son, Glynn “Bo” Davis; her brothers, Leo (who died as a child,) Robert, Clifford, Truman and Duward Kearby – and their spouses; her sister, Juanita Kearby Reynolds and her spouse; one step great grandson, Matt Jones; all of her brothers- and sisters-in-law; and a number of nieces and nephews.
She is survived by a son, D. Jack Davis and his wife Gail of Fort Worth; daughter-in-law, LaVerne Davis of Pittsburg; one grandson, Paul R. Davis (Colleen) of Louisville, Ky.; three granddaughters, Paula Davis of Little Elm, Melinda Jones (Joe) of Pittsburg and Cindy Dumas (Vince) of Flower Mound; eight great grandchildren, Reid Davis, Hannah Davis, Kelly Heide, Holly Chapa, Drew Dumas, Alec Dumas and Chandler Dumas; one step-great-grandson, Jacob Wheeler; five great-great grandchildren Anna, Ella, and Jackson Heide and Regan and Carson Kerr; one step-great-great-grandchild, Julia Chapa; a number of nieces and nephews; and many friends.
Services were held May 26, 2016,at the Eubank Funeral Chapel in Canton. Don Kearby, her nephew, officiated.
The family asks that any memorials be made to the Perpetual Care Fund of the Cox Cemetery Association c/o Sue Baugh, P.O. Box 173, Canton TX 75103.
