Oletha Mae Griffith Davis

DAVIS, OLETHA MAE (nee Griffith), 92, of Florissant, MO, passed away on Mar. 3, 2010 at Delmar Gardens North in Florissant. Born May 28, 1917 in Cleveland, OH, she and her family moved to Ft. Wayne, IN in 1932. She graduated from high school there in 1934, during the Great Depression. She earned a B.S. in Education (1938) and an M.S. in Education (1939) from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. She married Robert Theodore Davis in Ft. Wayne on May 8, 1948. The family moved to Whitehall, OH in 1961; they then moved to Florissant in 1964. She ran a pre-school program and served as a Cub Scout leader in Ft. Wayne, and a Brownie and Girl Scout leader in Whitehall. A voracious reader, she also enjoyed poetry and creative writing. While in Florissant, she was a homemaker and teacher; she then returned to school to obtain an M.A. in Library Science in 1974. In 1983, she retired from the Ferguson Library; in 1986 she was asked to come back to the library, and retired for the second time in 1987. She was active at the now-closed Christ The King Lutheran Church in Florissant, where she was active in the Lutheran Church Women (later the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America), served on several committees, taught Vacation Bible School, and led Bible studies. Accompanied by her husband, she went to 14 Elderhostels and a three-week trip to Europe; they then presented slide shows of their excursions at the Ferguson Library. Between 1989 and 1991, she wrote the column "Memories and Musings" for the North County Journal. She was a life member of the American Association of University Women. Survivors include her son, Douglas M. Davis; her daughter, Shelley (William) Davis Patterson from Grovetown, GA; her nephew Jim (Phyllis) Brown; her niece Ann R. Sentman of Monument, CO; and her great-niece Pamela Sentman of Tuscon, AZ. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert; her sister-in-law, Dorothy Davis Sentman; her brother-in-law Edgar F. Sentman; her nephew, David K. Sentman; her niece, Shirley Mossman; and her cousins Dick Pfeiffer of Ft. Wayne, IN and Norm Pfeiffer of Youngstown, AZ. Visitation will be at Hutchens Morturary on Thursday, Mar. 4 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The funeral service will be on Friday, Mar. 5 at 11 a.m. at the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, 2725 Concord Dr., Florissant. Burial will be in Lindenwood Cemetery in Ft. Wayne, IN. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Lutheran Church of the Living Christ or the Alzheimer's Association, 9374 Olive Blvd., Suite 101, St. Louis, MO 63132-3253. On line condolences at www.hutchensmortuary.com

Oletha Mae Griffith Davis

May 28, 1917 - March 1, 2010