Michael Dale Davis

Once WWII ended, Mike’s family moved back to Dallas, TX where they had lived before the war. After he graduated high school, Mike attended Southern Methodist University and graduated with his degrees in Political Science and History. Mike then entered Perkins School of Theology and graduated with a Masters in Theology.

While attending Perkins School of Theology, Mike sighted a Co-ed who was just ending the last years of her adolescence. After six year of courtship, they married at the Little Church of La Villita on June 30, 1973. On June 30 of 2023, he and his bride, Professor Emeritus Maria Falchero Davis, celebrated 50 years of marriage. The month prior, he lived to celebrate his 80th birthday on May 29th, for which his wife is very grateful.

Mike later became an emergency room chaplain at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, TX until government money supporting the chaplaincy program ceased to continue their funding because of the increasingly high cost of the Vietnam War. Mike then left Dallas, TX and travelled to San Antonio, TX and entered the Wardens School of Social Service. He received a Masters of Social Work (MSW).

Later, the State of Texas, awarded him a LMSW – License Master Social Work. The State of Texas also licensed him as a marriage and family counselor and further licensed him to supervise the student graduates who had graduated and were working on their candidacy for licensure for themselves. Out of the 50 years Mike spent at Our Lady of the Lake University, 30 of them were spent in the classroom teaching Social Work Science.

Mike remained working in the classroom until the Summer of 2023 when he became too ill to continue. The Clinic Director, to her credit, continued to teach Mike’s classes and would not allow his wife to repay her for the work she did pro-bono for Mike.

Mike is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Maria; his two nephews, Jacob William Zaranka and Philip Maurice Zaranka; many, many colleagues who loved him, former students all over the country, current students at Our Lady of the Lake, and his thousands of patients whom he counseled.

MEMORIAL SERVICESATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 202311:00 AMOUR LADY OF THE LAKEUNIVERSITY CHAPEL

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Mike’s name to a charity of your choice.