Dorothy Wheless Davis, 89, passed away Friday, November 23, 2018 at Morningside Assisted Living after a very courageous battle with cancer. A service to celebrate her life will be held Friday, November 30, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in the Edgewood Hall at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 4071 Macon Road, Columbus, Georgia 31907. Interment will follow in Parkhill Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
Born in Madison County Georgia on August 28, 1929, to Abner Grant Wheless and Lessie O’Kelley, she was the fourth of their five children. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Davis was preceded in death by her husband, Jesse Walker Davis, two sisters and one brother.
Survivors include her daughter, Brenda Davis Crabtree; her son, Paul Walker Davis (Vickie); six grandchildren: Jack D. Crabtree III, Jeffrey Davis Crabtree, Brian Davis, Nicole Davis, Neal Davis, and Walker Davis; six great-grandchildren: Jack, Tony, Jesse, Tori, Coleman, and JD; one sister, Peggie Colquitt, several nieces and nephews; a sweet circle of friends from Morningside Assisted Living; and her very devoted and beloved caregiver, “Bianca” Veronica Harris.
She loved God and was a long-standing member of Sandy Cross Baptist Church. Known to her friends as “Dot,” she was a devoted Army wife; a wonderful mother; a sweet grandmother; and a kind and loyal friend. She married the love of her life, Jesse Walker Davis on December 29, 1947 and quickly adapted to military life. She took exceptional pride as a homemaker where her skills were honed to perfection --- she was creative, imaginative, and resourceful. She was gifted with very traditional values and was known for good manners, respect, and sound morals – those very values helped form who her children and grandchildren are today. Moving frequently included Army assignments in Europe and Asia where she made many new friends with enthusiasm.
She loved children who made her laugh and that love of children was thoroughly displayed through two of her most favorite jobs: she was an activities director for the local American Youths Association in Mainz Germany and served as the island-wide Teen Club Director on Okinawa Japan. Her favorite hobby was gardening and she could often be spotted on early mornings pruning roses or hydrangeas in her well-manicured yard. In her later years, she always welcomed company to her quieter style of life. She was a proud woman who believed in dignity and her sense of dignity was never so tested nor so well demonstrated as the final weeks of her life. She persevered like the good Army wife she always was whilst her Soldier-husband, the love of her life, beamed down on her from Heaven.
To sign the online guest registry or to offer flowers, please visit www.shcolumbus.com.
