Neil Dean Davis

Neil was raised on a farm in Hand County, South Dakota and spent his youth working on the farm although his real passion was sports. Basketball was his favorite; hunting was another favorite especially with his dad during pheasant season.

In high school he would meet his sweetheart Judy Horn and would marry on the 26th of January 1963 in Miller, SD. They celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary this past year.

After graduating from Southern State Teachers College he started teaching and coaching in Conde, SD. In 1968 he made a career change moving our family to Miller, SD to sell life insurance for Provident Life. Taking a new position with the company in 1977 he moved our family to Yakima, WA. At this time he started umpiring for the next 20 years and he loved it.

Starting in the early 1990’s he owned and operated a landscape business until retiring in 1998. In retirement he would attend many sporting events from grandkids games to traveling to Seattle to watch U.W. Women’s fast pitch games. He was a sports fan but was always ready for a card game and enjoyed working with wood.

He is survived by his wife, Judy A. Davis of Yakima; son, Jeffrey Lynn Davis (Janet) of Yakima; daughters, Vicki Rae Davis and Tami Jo Davis both of Yakima; brother, Doyle Davis (Karen) of Howard Lake, MN; sister, Monica Buechler (Thomas) of Las Vegas, NV; six grandchildren, Nichole Thomaselli, Chanai Cox (Stacie), Brayden Davis, Luke Davis, Macie Woody and Stevie Woody. He is preceded in death by his parents.

Below is a note that was sent to our family from a former player he had coached, following his death. This quote describes our father to a tee and one can exchange the name coach to dad, friend, and husband:

“Coach Davis was my first coach, my

toughest coach, my loudest coach,

my meanest coach and my most caring coach,

my most knowledgeable coach

and my best coach ever”.

He will be greatly missed but never forgotten. We would like to thank all for the love and support our family has received during this difficult time.

Memorial Services will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 26, 2013 at Langevin-Mussetter Funeral Home. To share a memory of Neil please visit, www.lmfuneralhome.com