The memorial service for Jack will be held on Saturday 8/21 at 2pm. It will be held at the University of Northern Colorado in the Columbine Suites (in the University Center).
For those who cannot make it we will be hosting a video presentation that Cassie and I put together here on lifetransplanet. It will be posted at 2pm. This is the same video we will be watching together at UNC.
Jack at a Young Age
It’s pretty incredible, this chance we have. This chance we have called life. We can decide many things and choose many paths. It’s like those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books I used to read as a kid only with virtually infinite options that only expand and collapse depending on the door you decide to open. Well, my dad had the kind of life that is more like “lives”. He had so many incarnations. He was a farmer, construction worker, mayor, softball pitcher and coach, small business owner, lawyer, father, husband,brother, son, and so much more. Well, let’s let him tell you. He wrote his own obituary and you all are the first to see it.
1/23/1948 – 8/14/2010
Age: 62
Residence: Greeley
I was born in Meeker, Colorado on January 23, 1948 to Herbert Lester Davis and Iris Florane Lovelace. My family and I lived in a log cabin on my grand-dad’s homestead for a little over three years. In my third year, my brother Edwin L. Davis was born and we moved to Portland, Oregon because Dad had been called up for the Korean Conflict.
We lived in Portland, Oregon for six years until we moved back to Colorado when I was about nine years old. I graduated from Meeker High School in 1966. Later that year, I joined the Army Security Agency as an analyst. I left the Army in 1969 and worked in farming and construction until the early 1970’s when I moved to Greeley, Colorado.
In Greeley I started and ran a successful lawn care company called Davis Lawn Care for over 20 years. In 1976 I met the love of my life, Charlotte G. LeBlanc. I finally persuaded her to marry me on July 4, 1978. All of the really great things in my life have come from Char including my two children. Cassandra Iris (Cassie) was born on July 18, 1980 and Justin Tyler on September 8, 1985. Our family moved to Nunn, Colorado in 1991 where we renovated and lived in the old school house there until 2007.
I finally graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1995. In 1998 I graduated from the University of Wyoming: College of Law; the same year Cassie graduated from Highland High School and Char received her Master’s Degree from UNC.
Much to my enormous happiness, Cassie married Britton L. Kauffman on August 6, 2005.
I practiced law in Weld County and was a member of the Weld County Bar Association until I became too ill to continue my practice in 2008. One of my greatest honors in life was to be a member of that Bar Association and to practice law in Colorado. In 2004 I was presented with the A. Andrew Borg Award for my volunteer Pro Bono services in support of Weld County Legal Services.
I was preceded in death by my mother, father and brother. I am survived by my wife, children, half brother, Bill Davis, niece, Madison Davis, mother-in-law, Grace LeBlanc and many friends.
I also leave an open chair in my monthly poker game with some of my best friends and the best card players in Greeley.
-JFD
John F. (Jack) Davis passed away on Saturday morning, August 14, 2010 in Greeley after a long battle with cancer under care by Hospice. Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, August 21st at UNC’s University Center Columbine Suites at 2pm. Condolences may be sent to: http://www.stoddardsunset.com. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Northern Colorado, Inc.
Update***Today, August 18, the Greeley Tribune published his obituary***
We have had a very low-key quiet and SNOWY Christmas in Greeley this year. We got about 8-10 inches of snow in the last couple of days. The white Christmas is pretty in its own way, but so cold! We finally put the heat lamp in the chicken coop last night because as I mentioned earlier, two of the girls are molting and must be pretty cold. Unfortunately, when Britton put it in at about 10pm last night (with negative 10 degree weather), he put it directly into the coop and this woke them up. They could not sleep with the light glaring in their faces and ended up sleeping on the shelves of the greenhouse. Today we moved it out of the coop itself and just into the greenhouse. Hopefully that will keep it warm enough without keeping them awake.
Omelette with the heat lamp
Yesterday we also went over to Britton’s parent’s house for Christmas. We opened a few gifts and decorated some sugar cookies. It was pretty fun.
Our cookie creations
Decorating some cookies with our niece and nephew and Britton’s sis
Then today we went over to my parent’s house and opened gifts and had a nice meal. We spent time with my Grandma, brother, his girlfriend and my parents. The best gift of all was hearing that my dad’s PET scan came back with very good results! We also got some goofy presents including some fake crowns that made for a good picture.
My crazy family
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Britton and Cassie 🙂
My Mom and the Bishop who looks like Santa Claus
Both of my parents have recently retired and it has left them with a bit more time to do the things they always wanted to do. My dad who is fighting/healing from cancer enjoys playing online poker, fixing up the back area of their house, watching TV and movies and has recently started to write a really interesting sci-fi story! My mom spends time with her dogs, gardens, and this past year has taken an interest in going to church. Actually, I think she started thinking about going back to church around the time we first went to Puerto Rico and stayed with Awilda. I think she still has the Bible Awilda gave her.
My family has never been overtly religious, but I think like all people, we are seekers of some sort. My mom, having grown up in the Catholic church as a child has taken a while but has returned to her roots even if in a sort of non-traditional way. She attends a Liberal Catholic church. I did not know what that was until she invited me to attend. I am always up for attending religious events, at least once, if even only for the anthropologist in me. Apparently, the Liberal Catholic church has nothing to do with the political liberal, as in liberal and conservatives, except in that the definition of “liberal” means:
a. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded
Liberal Catholism was separated from the Roman Catholic Church and has a wide range of views including reincarnation. It is somewhat similar to the Episcopal church in its reasoning for breaking from the larger church and in its allowances (like the fact that priests can marry). What is interesting is that they still retain a lot of the regalia of the old Catholic Church and use traditional clothing, incense, candles and face the alter. Some of the hymns were from the 1800s! Not as old as the ones we sang at the synagogue, but old none-the-less.
Anyway, this is the church that my mom has been attending with my grandma and her neighbor Cletus, who she spends a lot of time with and so she decided to get confirmed. She invited Britton and me to come (along with my brother, his girlfriend and my dad). There was a lot of up and down sit, stand, kneeling, and of course the part that I find the strangest: communion. It is still hard for me to “swallow” (pun intended) the whole eating of a human God, but I know it is a meaningful part of many Christian religions.
It was a special day for her and so she wanted me to put a few pictures up on this blog. It was fun hanging out with everyone, getting dressed up and taking pictures, wedding style.
The whole gang