Jemima K. Davis

Jemima K Davis
Aug. 15, 1922 - June 11, 2013
Jemima K Davis died June 11, 2013 of natural causes. She was born on Aug. 15, 1922 to Carrie Chandler Klein and John Klein in Clinton, OK, the sixth of eight children. This was Dust Bowl time in Oklahoma and mom's family struggled to keep food on the table. Mom boarded out when she was11 years old being the nanny for four small children. Mrs. Sherbourne taught her to cook and that passion carried her throughout her lifetime. She continued to live with other families and work for her keep until she graduated from Butler High School. Her family left Oklahoma and moved to Vale, OR when she was 16 and a senior in high school. She stayed with the Thomas family and finished her schooling. That summer she boarded a bus and rode by herself to Oregon to join her family and worked at a variety of jobs.
The fall of 1941 she took a job in Cascade, ID caring for the Carter children for the winter. Mom writes - "I had heard about Tom Davis as the man who owned the ranch out of town but pictured him as an old man with a straggly beard. That was until this handsome man hit me with a snowball when I was walking down the street in Cascade. The next time we met was in the spring at a dance at Roseberry. Tom asked me to dance and we danced the night away. Tom kept asking me to go out but I was booked. Finally he said, 'Well I can't get a date with you. I had might as well quit asking.' That is when I told the other guys I was busy and Tom and I became 'an item'. The problem was my job was ending and I was planning to leave and go to Boise for beauty school. We had only known each other a few weeks but Tom said either we get married or we won't' see each other again. So May 29, 1942 we drove to Boise and were married at St. John's Cathedral and the rest is history. That was 71 years ago."
It is hard to mention mom without dad. After they were married they moved into a little house on the "home ranch" just east of Cascade on the Warm Lake Road. It had no running water or indoor plumbing but mom now had her own home and made a great life for she and dad. They built their log home some 64 years ago and it is still part of the ranch. Summers were always spent in Cascade with the arrival of the cattle in May. These "yearlings" were sold in the fall and they purchased new calves to raise. They spent their first winter in Cascade feeding cattle but the winters proved too tough and the cattle didn't thrive. So they began moving twice a year (including the milk cow and the chickens) for their entire married life. Winter homes included Baker, OR, Emmett, ID, and then Vale, OR. As their cattle herds grew and Jeff and Ed got out of school, they bought the Alvord Ranch out of Burns, OR and the Ruby Ranch out of Jordan Valley, OR and wintered there. 30 years ago they began spending time in Palm Desert, CA.(eventually buying a home there and spending six months in the winter). After the cattle were shipped out they would comment that the "palm trees" were calling and would begin preparing to head south.
Summers were the high point of the year with Cascade's famous 4th of July Parade and Horse Races and the Payette River Cattleman's Rodeo and Barbecue in Garden Valley. Mom loved planting her beautiful flower garden, her sweet peas along the fence and bloomed until the milk cow got in and ate them. Her flowers and vegetables always won ribbons at the Valley County Fair. She loved hunting morel mushrooms, picking huckleberries, and attending her Monday night bridge club. She would make homemade ice cream on Sundays and share her extra milk with friends in town. But cooking was her passion. Whether it was the Governor or the hired man, you were always welcome at mom's table. When visitors came by mom would always say - "Oh you need a bite of my new ……. " and no one ever left hungry. Linda gave her a "sour dough" starter and that began a Sunday morning breakfast tradition of sour dough pancakes, three kinds of meat, fried potatoes, eggs, etc. Then she used the left over batter to make cinnamon rolls - a favorite of her grandchildren.
There are five of us children and we were the luckiest next to dad. Mom made sure we always had clean, ironed clothes, plenty of good food and she was our greatest advocate. You'd better be careful if you said something about any of us - she was always the first to defend our honor. But watch out when we got home - she made sure we minded our P's and Q's. There was a great deal to do to keep the ranch and home running and so she made sure we all helped out in a variety of ways. Bridge was a passion around the house and we all learned to play. There is a card table set up in the house so we always had a game going when four of us were there.
Mom is preceded in death by her parents and seven brothers and sisters, Dorothy, Dan, Ernie, and Louis Klein, Martha Romans, Grace Pennington, Mabe Amos, daughter-in-law Barbara Davis, grandson Corey Davis and three great grandchildren Nicholas Davis, Ethan Davis and Amaya Swain.
She leaves her husband of 71 years Tom Davis, five children, 12 grandchildren, and 26 great grandchildren. Jeff (Shawn Shepherd) Davis - Tommy, Mitch and Christy House; Ed (Leilani) Davis - Paul, Mike and Frank; Linda (Jim) Leonard; Diane (Dave) Myklegard - Drew, Annie Craig and Jen Laubhan; Phil (Yvette) Davis - Sarah Swain, Josh and Katlin and all of their families.
Funeral Mass will be held Sat. June 15, 2013 at 2pm at Katharine Drexel Catholic Church in Cascade, ID with a rosary at 1:30pm.
Our family would like to thank the staff at Paramount Senior Living and Treasure Valley Hospice for all their support and assistance.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the Jemima Davis Fund at St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church, P O Box 821, McCall, ID. This church was built on the Cascade ranch property and was a passion of mom's.
Services under the direction of Heikkila Funeral Chapel.