Evangeline McLennan Davis

Writer and editor Evangeline McLennan Davis, of 3101 Duraleigh Road in Raleigh, died May 25th after a long illness. She was born in Decatur, Georgia on September 25, 1914, the youngest of six children. She lived in North Carolina for most of her life and in Raleigh for 20 years.
Mrs. Davis began her career as a foreign correspondent in Japan before World War II and was believed to be the first woman sportswriter in the U.S.
In the 1950s, she wrote a volume for The Atlantic Monthly and contributed short pieces to Harper's Magazine. For seven years she was book page editor of The Greensboro Daily News and was later editor of The Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, Virginia.
She wrote three books: Amelia Earhart, a biography; Rebel Raider, a children's book about Confederate naval hero Raphael Semmes; and a book about historic Charleston, S.C.
A life-long athlete, Mrs. Davis won the women's Southern Golf championship four times. She was also a nationally-ranked tennis player who reached the quarter-finals of what is now the U.S. Open.
For 40 years she was married to N.C. writer and historian Burke Davis. She is survived by two children, daughter Angela Davis-Gardner of Raleigh and son Burke Davis III of Halifax, Virginia; by grandson Heath Gardner and by three granddaughters, Sarah Davis of Washington, D.C., Kathryn Brigger of Stafford, Virginia, and Leah Williams of Warrenton, Virginia; and by one great-granddaughter, Hailey Brigger of Stafford, Virginia.
A memorial service will be held in the chapel of St. Michael's Episcopal Church on Wednesday June 2 at 3 p.m., following a reception in the church parlor at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of Wake County, 1300 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh.
Arrangements by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh.