Colleen Kay Davis

Colleen, beloved Sister, Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma, was born November 7th 1934 in Gary, Indiana, to Chester Theodore and Mildred Grace Sieckman. She was the second of five children, with brothers Jimmy, Ted and Wayne, and sister Judy. Sadly, Jimmy and Judy passed due to illnesses in childhood. Both sides of the family worked the steel mills of Gary, but her father chose the carpentry industry. Then in 1941, the family came to California, inspired by the employment opportunities offered by the aerospace industries in support of World War II. They lived in Descanso for a short time then moved to Linda Vista, where many fellow employees of the Solar Corporation lived. While there they attended Bethany Lutheran church.

In 1945 the family moved to Harbison Canyon where they owned their own home. At this time they began attending the fledgling Christ Lutheran Church, when it was in a bicycle shop. There were no public schools in Harbison Canyon, so Colleen and her siblings had to be bussed to grade school in Bostonia, then Grossmont high school. Since her mother worked, when she came home from school Colleen would take care of her baby brother Wayne, 10 years her junior. She was like a second mother to him. Every day he would be waiting for her with a book to read. As a child she loved animals and once took care of a baby woodpecker that had fallen out of its nest, until it was old enough to fly away on its own.

In 1952, after graduation from high school, she went off to Los Angeles CA to go to Woodbury College, living with a family in Echo Park. She received a B.A. degree in Journalism in 1955, moved back to San Diego, and took a job in customer service at Sears and Roebuck. She and her friend Annette took a train trip one day, but no seats were available. A handsome couple of sailors offered them their seats. One of them would be the love of her life J.C. Davis. Later J.C. introduced Annette to the love of her life, Bud. It wasn’t long until J.C. proposed, but it was within weeks from being shipped out to the Philippines. A whirlwind wedding was put together and they were married June 23rd 1956. They moved to the Philippines, until Colleen returned to give birth to Cindy in June of 1957. J.C. finished his active duty in the Navy that year and served in the Navy reserve until he retired.

Colleen began her career as a housewife as they moved into an apartment in El Cajon CA. J.C. worked as a typewriter and office machine repairman. In August 1958, Sandra was born. In 1959 they bought a home in Santee CA. They would own that home for the rest of their lives. In August 1959, while still moving into the house, before telephones had been installed, Colleen went into labor which progressed rapidly, as J.C. ran to a local business to use the phone to call for an ambulance. Too late! Judy was born at home and became famous as she was featured on the first page of both editions of the San Diego Evening Tribune. That day her brother Ted came over with his new girlfriend Arlette, who he ended up marrying. Almost three years later Glen was born in June 1962. Finally getting “that boy”, the family was complete. They lived in Santee until 1965, when J.C. took a job at the Nevada Test Site and moved the family to Las Vegas. There they lived the desert life until 1972, when J.C. took a job for the State of California and moved the family back to Santee, where they would stay until present. Sadly that year Colleen lost both of her parents. She continued to be a housewife until the kids grew up, moved out, got married and started having kids of their own.

Colleen was always devoted to reading, so it was fortunate that a librarian position came up at Santee School. She worked there until she retired. She loved her work at the library. While there, she became very popular with the kids, inspiring them to read with her special library projects. One of the kids’ favorites was the feature on Teddy Roosevelt and the origin of the Teddy Bear. All the kids were invited to bring a bear to the library. They were so proud when Mrs. Davis was featured in the newspaper for the hundreds of bears that participated.

Colleen’s grandkids also enjoyed the bears and reading with Grandma. She has 5 grandsons (Rion, Cavin, Dylan, Nick and Dalton) and 2 granddaughters (Tessa and Katie), and 4 great grandsons. Colleen and J.C. lived happily ever after, spending time traveling, visiting kids and hosting family parties. They were always there for the family, available to help out in any way needed, providing a strong base and support. J.C. passed on his birthday, January 13th 2017. Colleen continued to be there for the family for five more years until her passing on J.C.’s birthday January 13th 2022. Until that time, she enjoyed living independently, enjoying family visits and events, long phone calls with family and friends, reading, keeping up to date on Facebook, and special outings with her daughter Sandra.

Following are tributes from Colleen’s children and brothers:

Glen (Son):

My fondest memory is her commitment to reading. I remember when I couldn't get myself to sit down long enough to read, she made me a deal. She'd read the first chapter, then I read the next out loud to one another. This happened until 10th grade. It wasn't because of my reading and comprehension, it was just sitting down relaxing and reading. Now that I have grown, I still have a problem with sitting and reading a book, but I can write legal descriptions all day, or read attorney depositions. Talk about boring, my mother could not believe the profession I chose. I sometimes cannot either, but I have successfully became a valuable part of society. I thank her and her only for giving me patience, desire to succeed, understanding failure, both professionally and personally, family is first, love and tolerance is above all! That's my mom.

Cindy (Daughter):

My Mom was the quintessential 50's housewife as we were growing up. With 4 children, she thrived by her routines, but threw in a few surprises to keep things interesting, like the new rollers skates we found at the base of our beds one morning that she bought with the green stamps she had saved up. Mom always had a positive attitude about life. It was her greatest gift to us, as well as giving us a strong and stable base from which to venture out into life. Mom and I talked often about our similar attitude about living life to the fullest, but having a strong base to come back to. She enthusiastically supported my adventurous life and was always there back at base camp waiting to hear the tales, listening with a smile on her face. I will miss that sweet smile.

Judy (Daughter):

There are MILLIONS of small things my Mom has done that have made BIG differences in my life, from walking me to my first class every new school year in grade school because I was afraid to go, to helping me find my first apartment and reassuring me that I would make it work. Mom was always so cool about things I thought she'd be upset about, like when she found out my future husband Thom was staying at my apartment sometimes when we were just dating. I was crying when I talked to her the next day because I thought she'd be so disappointed with me. She said, with no disappointment, you guys are adults; you know what you're doing. When we decided to get married, and wanted to do it before Thom left on Navy Westpac, Mom just took it in stride. She got her phone book out and had all the numbers, church, flowers, invitations, photographer, no problem. Mom always went with me on outings with the 3 kids. I needed back up! She was always available to watch her grandkids. She wanted to always have fun and be grandmother, not the person who had to be the disciplinarian. She devoted her whole attention when they were there. One time I came to pick up little Rion. They had made a tent out of the dining room table, blankets piled all over. He peeked out at me, and it was so cute. I had a hard time getting him to come home. Mom was always available for much needed venting. She could be sympathetic and understanding. She was always optimistic about the fact that things would work out for the best no matter the situation. My mom has always been such an important part of my support team, even when we moved far away to Portland. I will miss her terribly.

Sandra (daughter):

My Mom lived for her children. When my Dad passed away five years ago, she missed him terribly, but told him she was “not ready to go”. She wanted to make sure us kids were alright, especially me. I had the special privilege of living close to Mom and spending a lot of time caring for her during the last 5 years. I’ve enjoyed doing her hair and making her feel beautiful since 1977. She was fine though. Something we joked about as a family was that she was always “fine”. She loved living independently, not wanting to be a burden to anyone. She and I loved to take field trips together. We went to the beach, Santee lakes and even out to Glen’s cabin in Utah. I would drive Mom anywhere she wanted or needed to go. Sometimes though, she just wanted to look at the clouds, so we took a field trip to look at clouds. She enjoyed the simple beauty of life. I will miss her sweet simple beauty.

Wayne (Brother):

My sister Colleen was a loving and caring person. During my childhood, she read to me and babysat me after school when our mother was working. Colleen’s and my ages are ten years apart. She tried to calm me when our family went for blood draws while our sister Judy was dying. As we approached the hospital, she told me, “You will be okay. It won’t take long.” Colleen even took me to high school football games. Colleen told me to cover my ears, and then she and her friends would cheer, toss homemade confetti, and ring cowbells. I screamed because I didn’t know what was going on, but the next week I wanted to go again. I sure missed her when she went away to college, and I miss her even more now.

Ted (Brother)

We were always close even though we lived most of our lives thousands of miles apart. Colleen was my big sister, the mature one, even though we were less than a year apart in age. Our standing joke was that during the ten days each year that we were the same age, she could not “boss” me around. But, clearly there was not a “boss” bone in her body. As a matter of fact, she was the most even tempered, pleasant person I have ever known.

In high school, one grade ahead of me, she was always speaking favorably of me. However, at the beginning of our high school years, our sister Judy died and was taken to Indiana for burial. I remember the long, very difficult, train ride Colleen and I and our family took.

Later in life, it was a pleasure to call her from the many locations my wife Arlette and I lived, relating our stories. I still remember the story she told me about the train trip she and J.C. made to the east coast to visit his family. After many stops and transfers, the train finally arrived in Virginia, two full days later.

Sleep well dear one, you have lived a wonderful life.

Love, Ted

Love you Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Colleen