Ernest Wayne Davis

He was married to Mina Smith on February 2, 1946 in Armona, CA by his uncle Joe who was the pastor of the church, it was his uncle’s first wedding. Wayne was drafted to the US Army during World War II and was stationed in the Philippines. He had to report for duty 10 days after getting married. When he was honorably discharged, he came home to Mina and Elaine, his baby daughter; then they started their life together. A year and 10 months later, Sandra was born and then in 5 more years, Kim was born.

Wayne went to work at Grinnell Pipe Fitting and Sprinkler Co. He was in the Pipe Fitters Union, he did this for 5 years. In January of 1956, he bought a little grocery store in Selma, CA and was there for 5 years before purchasing another grocery store on August 1, 1961 in Lemoore, CA across the street from the high school. They were there for 35 graduating classes; the door was closed the day after the last graduation in 1995. Wayne and Mina returned to Hanford and had a new house built. They lived there until April 15, 2019 whey they moved to Valley Christian Home.

Wayne had a hard time adjusting to his new home, but finally seemed to feel comfortable. The Valley Christian Home had a prom and Wayne and Mina won the King and Queen of the prom. Wayne smiled from ear to ear; he had a good time. Everyone at Valley Christian Home has been so nice to them. In August 2019, Wayne was in the hospital for about 13 days. He then went to Kings Nursing Home to live out the rest of his life.

Wayne is survived by his wife Mina of 73 years, 2 daughters Elaine Hope and husband Bill Hope and Kim Waterman and husband Bob Waterman all of Lemoore. Wayne is preceded in death by his daughter Sandra Dodd in 2010 and his son-in-law Stonnie Dodd in 2018. His sons-in-laws were just like his sons, he loved them and they love Wayne; they always thought a lot of their father-in-law. Wayne taught his sons-in-law a lot of good things; how to be respectful, loving, kind, gentle, trust worthy and TO BE GOOD HUSBANDS and DADS. Wayne’s sons-in-law always had a great time with him, talking about old cars and “back in the old days.” Wayne had 8 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren and 9 great-great grandchildren.

One last thing to share, Kim and I went to visit dad, we asked him if he had been eating Cheetos and he said “no,” but he had Cheetos dust on his lips and fingers. He was so serious he made us laugh. We all loved him so much.