Obituary of Anita Jane Davis

DAVIS – Anita Jane, 86, La Cresenta, California, and a native of Ebensburg, died November 1, 2011 in Pasadena, California. Born August 23, 1925 in Ebensburg, daughter of the late Harry E. “Pep” and Evelyn Davis. A 1943 graduate of the Ebensburg – Cambria High School, a 1947 graduate of Slippery Rock University and held a master’s degree from the University of Southern California. During World War II, she worked in the defense industry as a “Rosie the Riveter” for Curtiss Aricraft in Buffalo, New York. After graduating from college, she held various teaching positions in local high schools such as South Fork, Martinsburg (Blair Co.), and Imperial (Allegheny County). In 1954 she located permanently to California where she taught for over thirty years in the Los Angeles School System, including posts at Clairmont and La Canada-Flintridge as a girls’ athletics instructor. In her last academic position, she served for ten years as director of the Clear Creek Nature School Camp, maintained by the city of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Mountains. One of her special cares at Clear Creek was nursing injured animals back to health, notably among them an eagle with a broken wing and a fox with a broken leg. She maintained an infirmary there for this purpose where there was a continuous stream of sick and injured animals being helped to return to their native state. In her retirement years she spent much of her time as a volunteer docent and worker at the beautiful Descanso Gardens in La Canada renowned for its magnificent collection of camelias, said at one time to be the largest in the world. Both Jane and her sister Audrey cultivated and exhibited camelias winning numerous exhibition awards for their blooms over the years. Anita is preceded in death by her sister Audrey Davis McIntyre and is survived by her brother Walter R. Davis of Ebensburg, a niece Deborah Grazier, of Cheshire, CT; a nephew Dr. Richard E. Davis, of Denver, CO and three grand nephews. Jane was a vigorous outdoor woman and a lifelong lover of animals, particularly those which were sick, injured or orphaned. Anyone caring to contribute to her memory should give to the animal shelter of their choice. She will be interred at Lloyd Cemetery, Ebensburg, alongside her parents and her sister.