Deborah “Debby” Davis

"A Life Well Lived"

Debby was born in Chicago in 1932 to Edwin Pratt Jordan, an internist and national medical columnist, and Marjorie Crichton Jordan. The family moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she spent three high school years at the Laurel School for Girls. In 1950, they left Cleveland to spend a year in Mexico City where she attended Mexico City College while her father continued writing his medical column-her experiences there with Hispanic culture and studying Spanish had a profound impact on her later choices in life. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania with a degree in Anthropology and followed that up with a Masters in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston. Her first job as a librarian took her to Seattle, Washington where she met her future husband, William Scott Spiller. They were married in Charlottesville, Virginia at Darby's Folly Farm in 1956. "Bill" was an MIT-educated chemical engineer, and his Seattle job with Scott Paper Company eventually took them to Mobile, Alabama. There they welcomed three children to the family. While raising the children, Debby worked as a Children's Librarian in Mobile and began her theater career with the community theater company, The Joe Jefferson Players. She divorced in 1970 and Debby and the children moved to Austin, Texas for a year. They then moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia where Debby became the Director of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library. In 1979, they moved to Chicago where she worked for The Northern Trust and the Chicago Public Library. It was in Chicago where she met and married John M. Davis, a psychiatrist researcher. John has two children so they became a blended family.

Deb (as she was known to her theater friends) rekindled her love of theater in Chicago and then spent more than 30 years in stage roles and theatrical endeavors with incredible passion at every turn. As a founding member, actor, and revered managing director, she guided ShawChicago theater company through its two artistic directors and several physical transitions. She was a vibrant and beloved member of Teatro Vista where she helped to spearhead the play reading committee and generously hosted many discussions and celebrations. She graced the stage at theaters such as Next Theater in Evanston and Famous Door Theater Company. She was nominated for a Jeff citation for her role in Claudia Allen's play, HANNAH FREE. Theater was truly the love of her third act.

She and John divorced and she eventually moved to the Washington, DC area for the last two years of her life. She passed away peacefully at the age of 93.

Debby had many great loves in her life: her family, especially her children, and a tremendous love of books were chief among them. She was almost always surrounded by numerous, wonderfully incorrigible rescue dogs, including perhaps her favorite, Charlie. She inherited a cottage on Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada in the 1960s and spent most of her summers there. She travelled extensively to Turkey and Oaxaca, Mexico and immersed herself in their cultures. She and John took their kids on numerous Christmastime adventures where many lifelong family bonds were nourished. Over the years, Debby was lucky to have had many deep and special friendships around the world.

Debby is survived by her three children, Margery "Markey" Scott Squier (Dennis), Joanna "Jody" Spiller Ryan (Geoff), and Robert "Rob" Jordan Spiller (Holly); two stepchildren, Richard Davis and Kathy Davis-Gibbons; and nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren She is also survived by her brother, David Crichton Jordan, her sister Mary Jordan Baker, and seven nieces and nephews.

We will hold a memorial celebration for Debby in the summer of 2026 on her beloved Grand Manan Island in Canada where she will be laid to rest. Hers was truly a life well lived.

For those who wish to make a gift in Debby's memory, we have set up a fund to support the public library on Grand Manan Island, a place near and dear to Debby's heart.

[NOTE: To send a letter to Canada from the US, you'll need a Global Forever stamp that costs $1.70.]

MAIL TO:

Grand Manan Library

1144 Route 776

Grand Manan, New Brunswick

Canada E5G 4E8

Attn: Deborah Jordan Davis Fund

OR PAYPAL:

(to Debby's son, Rob Spiller)

paypal.me/DebGMLibrary