Lois Maurine Davis

Lois Maurine (Baty) Davis, 94, left this world Sunday, June 29, 2025. Services will be held on Tuesday, July 8, at McLaren’s Resthaven Chapel, 801 19th Street, West Des Moines, with visitation from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., the service at 10:30 a.m., and a light luncheon following at 11:30 a.m.

Lois was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 14, 1930, to parents Ed and Millicent Baty. Her formative years were spent in Beaverdale, where she graduated from North High School in 1948. While higher education wasn’t in the mix, she was nevertheless a lifelong learner and was very much attuned to politics and culture until the very end.

She married Jean McVey Davis in 1950 and, along with another couple, embarked on a five-year span of early car trips throughout the United States, during which Lois created detailed scrapbooks. Children came along (with accompanying fishing trips for Jean!) in 1955, with Scott and Shawn in 1956, Brad in 1960, and Sue in 1962. The obligatory 2-week travel vacations began soon after, with four kids in a large station wagon with a way-back seat and an 8-millimeter camera that she sometimes knew how to operate.

Work was varied: a brief stint as a checker at Dahl’s in Beaverdale, secretarial work for the Borman Company, and a beloved employment with Drs. Corn and Gangeness, with a long association with the city and later the Polk County Assessor’s office, both full-time and part-time, where she retired in 2019 at the age of 89.

As grandkids came onto the scene, time was juggled with attention to them and various trips with Jean throughout the country and Hawaii.

One of Lois’s passions was music, which all four children participated in. Jean and Lois were charter members of the Hoover Band Boosters, and they both enjoyed attending concerts and later gigs from the children! Lois was a member of Glen Echo Christian Church, where, in the late 1960s, a Bible study group got out of control and became known as the Dirty Dozen, with many years of antics, shenanigans, and lifelong friendships. She joined the Catholic faith through St. Mary of Nazareth in the early 1980s. Dad followed, and for a period, they acted as mentors to people joining the church.

Lois had a personality that owned the room. She loved life and was blessed to have many friendships. For her, flattery WILL get you somewhere!

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jean Davis (2018), and her parents, Edward Baty and Millicent Seeber Baty. She is survived by Scott Davis(Linda) of Des Moines, Shawn Davis (Sue) of Charles City, IA, Brad Davis (Deb) and Sue Davis (Kathy) of Des Moines; her grandchildren Alec Davis (Maya) and Evan (Megan) Davis of Des Moines, Drew Davis (Megan) of Minneapolis, MN, Keegan (Melina) Davis of Urbandale, IA, Rachel (Scott) Arnold of Frisco, TX, Ammon Davis and Aaron (Katie) Davis of Des Moines; her great granddaughters Alexa, Evelyn, Addie, Beatrice, Charlie and Kirby and great grandson Bodhi, and nieces and nephews.

Service information can be found at www.McLarensChapel.co. Instead of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the charity of your choice, with suggested donations to Mercy Hospice and St. Mary of Nazareth Catholic church. Go Cubbies, Mom!