DAVIS, Simon (Si) Israel

Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Arizona, Sunday, March 02, 2014 Simon Israel Davis, known to most as Si, died peacefully on February 12, 2014, just five days past his 91st birthday. He was born to immigrant parents, Herman and Mary Davis, on February 7, 1923, attended Brooklyn Polytechnic High School, and lived most of his life in New York and on Long Island. Si served in the Army Air Corps as a member of the 464th Bomb Group H, in the 776th Bomb Squadron based out of Pantanella, Italy for the duration of WWII. He was nineteen when he enlisted, and achieved the rank of first lieutenant as a navigator in B-24 Liberator bombers. He earned the Purple Heart for injuries he sustained in a parachute jump over Russian occupied Czechoslovakia, the Air Medal for completing all his missions, and was dearly proud of his military service. Following the war he met and married his wife of 58 years, Dolly, also a New Yorker, who was later known as Dee. Dolly and Si moved out of New York City to Hicksville, Long Island, where they bought a Levitt house, raised three children, and Si made a career in the New York area selling commercial and residential draperies, carpeting and upholstery—first in the family business, Davis Decorators, and later running his own business, Dadco Industries. In 1985 Dee and Si retired to Flagstaff, AZ to be near their sons, Marc and Dan, and their families. In Flag they found a lively retirement, building their own home, making many friends and serving the community as volunteers. Si gave nearly twenty years to the Volunteers at Flagstaff Medical Center, was a long-time Hospice volunteer for Northland Hospice, and was a member of the Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Flagstaff. Always an avid bridge player, Si played regularly at the Flagstaff Adult Center. He was endlessly friendly and kind-hearted, loved to tell stories, and (in his younger years) to wow everyone with his ability to do the Russian kazatsky! He sang his way through WWII and was still in good voice at the end of his life. He was our handsome, loving, Dad, Uncle Si, Grandpa Si, and we miss his Steeple Chase smile, his sense of humor, and his ever ready willingness to be of good cheer. May his spirit live on for many years in the hearts and memories of all who knew him. Si Davis is predeceased by his wife, Dee, and all of his siblings and their spouses. He is survived by his children, Dan Davis, of Flagstaff, Marc Davis and his wife Christy, of Flagstaff, and Barbara Harlow, of Peterborough, NH, seven grandchildren (Corey, Marc, Adam, Matthew, Jeanne, Justin and Daniel), seven great-grandchildren (Dylan, Alayna, Scarlet, Simon, Isaiah, Gabrielle and Kru), and his nieces Judy Wall and Susan Rowley, nephew, Ken Pearlman, and their families. There will be a memorial service at the Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Flagstaff and interment in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix at a future date. As well there will be a service and interment at Lake Sunapee, NH. For information about service in Flagstaff and Phoenix, please contact Marc Davis at 928-606-4422 or mdavisncc@hotmail.com Donation checks in Si’s memory, payable to the Alzheimer’s ASSOCIATION, may be sent to: Clare Bridge of Tempe, 1610 E. Guadalupe Rd., Tempe, AZ 85283, attention Anita. This obituary was prepared by the Advertising Department (928) 556-2279.