Ora Mae Davis

1906 - 2010

ODESSA Ora Mae Medlin Davis, of Kermit, 104, went home Saturday, August 21, 2010.
The daughter and granddaughter of West Texas pioneers, she was born on June 22, 1906, in Stanton, Texas, to J.H. and Bessie Jones Medlin. In 1917, the Medlin family homesteaded land in New Mexico near Ochoa, west of Jal. Ora Mae went to the one-room school and after obtaining her teaching certificate, returned to Ochoa and taught there for two years. Then she was sent to the White School on the Drinkard Ranch south of Eunice. The next year, she re-opened the Jal School and taught there until she married George Edward Davis in 1930.
She was a talented oil painter; learning old world techniques from Miss Flora Farnsworth, an English expatriate who had come to the rootin' tootin' boomtown of Jal for the dry climate. We think she could have had a good reputation as a regional painter had she continued after the '40s.
She lived a good, long life. We will miss her and never forget her.
Those left to cherish her memory are her son, George Medlin Davis of Texas; daughter-in-law, Jerry Ann Davis; sons, Leland E. Davis and wife Judy of Minnesota, James M. Davis of Texas and Glenn G. Davis of Connecticut; daughter-in-law, Charlotte Davis; seven grandchildren, Georgia Ann and husband Lloyd Griffith, Terry Lynn and husband Terry Holt, Donna Hammack, Clay Davis, Andrew Davis, Dr. Jonathan Davis, and Susanne and husband Michael Garza; 10 great-grandchildren, Terra, Tanya, Tami, Jennifer, Sonny, James, Daniel, Candice, Michelle and Kyle; and nine great-great grandchildren.
She was the last of her generation and was predeceased by her siblings, Ruth Marion, Beulah Baird, J.H. Medlin, Elbert Medlin and Annis B. Hollis; and cousin, Jo Dorsey; her husband, of almost 63 years, George Davis, also precedes her in death.
Funeral services will be at First United Methodist Church at 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 25, 2010, officiated by the Rev. Rod Peacock and assisted by the Rev. John Wade. Interment will follow at Kermit Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Terry Holt, Lloyd Griffith, Daniel Hammack, Sonny Westerman, Michael Garza and Jonathan Davis.
Honorary pallbearers will be Bob Scott, George Reich, Helen Spangler, Loraine Jordan, Ruth Pearson, Lee Lipham and Robin Hawkins.
Arrangements are entrusted to Family Services Funeral Parlor of Kermit and online condolences may be sent at fs-fp.com.