Emma Jane Davis

THOMASVILLE, Ga. - Emma Jane (Jane) Rhea Davis of Thomasville, GA, formerly of Hot Springs Village, AK and Findlay, IL, passed away at Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia, on November 29, 2011, with family at her side. She was born Emma Jane Wright on December 25, 1916, to Earl and Charity Briney Wright of Findlay, Illinois. She would have been 95 on Christmas Day 2011. She attended a one-room schoolhouse close to their farm home, and later graduated from Findlay High School and Sparks College in Shelbyville, Illinois. Upon graduation, she worked at the Shelby County Farm Bureau and A. E. Staley Co. in Decatur, IL. She created scores of needlepoint works and was a Life Master Bridge enthusiast. In 1939, Jane married Noble Lilburn (Bill) Rhea of Findlay, Illinois. He was founder of Rhea Funeral Home, which Jane operated when Bill served in the Pacific with the Merchant Marine during WWII. Together, they had three children, Kennedy J. (Ken) and wife Diane Marine Rhea, Ellen Jean (Jeanne) Kokesh and husband Larry Kokesh and Randall W. (Randy) and wife Marilyn Sue Thomas Rhea; nine grandchildren; fifteen great grandchildren; brother Lloyd Wright and several nieces and nephews. Jane was a devoted wife and mother. She was active in the Findlay United Methodist Church and was a past Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star of the Findlay Chapter 970. Bill passed in 1985 at Hot Springs Village, AK, where they had retired in 1978. In 1992, Jane and Marvin "Marve" Davis of Hot Springs Village. They moved to Thomasville, GA in 2004. Marve passed away in 2009. Jane's parents, husband Bill Rhea, husband Marve Davis, sister June Dixon, and grandson Richard W. Rhea preceded her in death. Visitation will begin at 11:00 AM Friday Dec. 2, 2011 and her funeral service will be at 2:00 PM Friday December 2, 2011 at the old Rhea Funeral Home, now Lockart-Green Funeral Home, 301 East North First, Findlay, Illinois, telephone ( 270- 774-8515). Officiating the service will be the Rev. Kent Melcher of Topeka, Kansas and the Rev. Tom Compton of Assumption, Illinois. Memorials may be made to the Findlay United Methodist Church, 103 S. Dazey Street, Findlay, Illinois 62534 or the Eastern Star Home, P. O. Box 317, Macon, Illinois 62544.