George Stanley Davis

Stan Davis (legal name George Stanley Davis) passed away February 5th, 2014 in Kirkland, WA, of a heart attack at the age of 67. He was born on July 9th, 1946 in Seattle, WA, the first of four children of George and Elizabeth Davis. He was raised in Laurelhurst and attended the local school system there, graduating from Roosevelt High School in 1964. He went on to college and earned a two year Associate Degree in 1966. He had a lot of friends in the neighborhood to get in or stay out of trouble with, whom I hope will write some stories in this memorial (that means you Bill Ziebarth, I know you are holding on to some good ones). Only one friend that I know of, the sweet ‘Guy Rocket,’ passed at a very young age of cancer and Stan was by his side till the end.

Stan spent all summers throughout his childhood with his family at their cabin in Cannon Beach, OR. All the kids enjoyed bonfires, parties and running from Officer Moon when he’d show up. Stan loved being at the beach, razor clam digging, crabbing, fishing, camping, sleeping on the beach, and listening to the ocean in the background! When in Seattle anytime during the summer, you would find Stan at the Laurelhurst Beach Club hanging out with his buddies.

Stan was a lifelong very hard worker, starting as a paperboy at 13 then onto the local Tradewell Grocery Store at 17. He excelled with this company for 23 years. They considered Stan honest, dependable and loyal, and admired his effective leadership skills. They sent him to various seminars and Industrial courses and promoted him to supervisor and manager of the Washington North Zone, the Oregon North Zone and 21 Prairie Market Stores in various locations. He was the Perishable Consultant, Buyer and Merchandise Organizer for all these stores. When Tradewell and the Prairie Markets closed in 1986, he continued on at QFC from 1987 until his retirement in 2009.

Stan served proudly in the Marine Corp from 1966 to 1972 in the Reserves and six months of active duty as Sergeant. He especially enjoyed working as a mess hall cook for the large military crews, which ended up becoming a lifelong passion of his. He made sure all who came around to visit or work on his home had good homemade food provided for them. If he had any extra, he would walk it over to the neighbors and they would be sooo happy to see Stan coming, carrying either fresh food he had just cooked or sharing treats from his garden!! Back to the Marines, (I tend to get hung up on his cooking too) Stan remained genuinely proud of his country and time spent in the military. He watched all the Specials, Movies, and Documentaries about men serving their country and saluted them when he saw any Marine on T.V.

From his first marriage, he welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Michelle Lee Davis, born on March 2nd, 1972. She resides with her family in Arlington, WA. Stan remarried on January 20th, 1992 to the true companion and love of his life, Rhose Sermonia Davis in the Philippines. They settled in Woodinville, WA and enjoyed 22 happy years together camping and eating fresh seafood up and down the Oregon Coast , fishing by Mount Baker and Concrete, WA with their camper, which Stan loved to work on in his spare time. When at home, Stan could be found in his recliner watching sports, betting the off track horse races and watching his favorite cooking shows (Rachael Ray and the Chew show) writing down the recipes he wanted to try. Rhose also loves to cook (mostly Filipino food, and she’s GOOD at it) so they had fun meal planning for the week but Rhose would usually lose getting in her picks because Stan would check the ads, cut the coupons and was used to getting up at 3:30am for work so he would be out the door, go to the store, shop the ad, come home, put the food away except for what he would start to marinade or whatever preparation he could do ahead for dinner and Rhose would awake to the smells of the crockpot simmering his oh so fabulous chili recipe or her personal favorite his pot-roast that he made special for her, along with a fresh pot of coffee awaiting her when she awoke. So, she didn’t take it too hard that her input was ignored; Stan ran the kitchen, and she followed behind cleaning up his mess. And, he was one messy cook but the food was so good who could complain? (And you best not) Stan and Rhose had four cats Stan doted on like I couldn’t believe, (having never liked cats) and he named them all: Spooky had passed away so they adopted Cisco, Lucy, Oreo, and his favorite, a Maine Coon that actually claimed him by coming day after day from an abusive neighbor until Bugsy (as Stan named her from her chasing bugs) finally won over Stan’s heart and once let in the door, would not even share him with the rest of the bunch that had all come before! He had so much fun with Rhose and those kitties outside making the garden every year, which became another fond hobby for them to do together. Rhose and Stan were very good to each other even as grumpy as Stan could be not feeling well; she just took it in stride. She was so good to Stan, always caring for his every need as his health began to take its toll. He couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful, gentle soul than Rhose and I always tell people she was the best addition to our family ever, she’s so easy to love and always eager to learn new things about everything!!! She never takes life or people for granted. I pray for strength for Rhose facing this loss, feeling alone with the emptiness he leaves behind and for the will to carry on without him.

Stan was a quiet man with a ‘tough guy’ exterior, but inside also quiet was a very caring heart. He had a fantastic, contagious sense of humor that he took everywhere with him. We have already received cards from the dentist office saying how happy they would be to see his name on the books for that day, with how he would cheer up the office telling his latest stories acting them out as he went, cracking them all up, the Bank where he does business all knew him personally and wrote how they looked forward to his walking through the door, he went there like every other day Rhose said just to visit and the grocery store clerks of course all carried on with him lookin’ for a deal, basically everywhere he frequented he talked great stories, gave cooking advise or any other he could I’m sure. Sounds like Stan had his regular rounds to do! And will be dearly missed by all that wrote.

Stan is preceeded by both parents, George Wilbur Davis (1984) and Elizabeth Mae Davis (2009); his brother Glenn Roger Davis (2009) and his sister Janis Carol Morgan (1980). He is survived by his loving wife Rhose Davis; youngest sister, Diane Elizabeth Davis-Litsey, and her husband Tom, his beloved daughter Michelle Lee Padilla and her husband Pablo, his grandchildren Antonio and Gabriella Padilla; nieces and nephews: Janis’ children Jeff and Tracy Morgan; Glenn’s wife Charlotte and their sons Lucas and Carl Davis; and Diane and Tom’s daughter Makena Mei Litsey.

We will all miss his antics, sense of humor and caring ways for a long time to come. Stan was fondly referred to as ‘Stan the Man’ by most and he liked that, it made him stand out and feel special for a moment, and that he was. Please take a moment to write anything any memory of Stan that comes to mind, funny or otherwise, just a few words to know you are out there, knew Stan, and it will give great comfort to our family. Thank you, The Davis Family