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Raymond Thirl 'Doc' Davis

Raymond Thirl “Doc” Davis was born in Brooken on Nov. 19, 1922, to Robert Davis and Ella Bush Davis. He passed away peacefully on Dec. 25, 2018, at the age of 96 while residing at Quinton Manor.

He attended Brooken and Enterprise Schools and worked on the farms around Brooken, starting at a very young age. He earned the nickname “Doc” while working on the Coblentz farm, attending to sick and wounded animals.

He married the love of his life, Ilene Madden, on Jan. 28, 1948, in Las Vegas, Nev. They lived in either Brooken or Tulare, Calif. for most of their lives, raising eight children, and finally returning to Brooken in 1964. He worked as a truck driver, heavy equipment operator and managed cattle operations for others.

Doc loved his family. When he was home, off the road after a long week of truck driving, he liked to wake up all the kids early for Saturday morning breakfast together. He loved to play board games and puzzles with his children.

He always looked forward to large Sunday dinners with family, a tradition which spanned at least 40 years. His favorite meal was fried ham, gravy and cornbread. He guarded that gravy bowl and always teased that he wouldn’t share. He made the best homemade cornbread.

To his grandchildren, he was larger than life and they loved visiting their grandparents on the ranch. More than once they watched in awe as he killed a snake with his own bare hands by cracking it like a whip. He took them fishing, let them help feed the cows and didn’t even get upset when they made a mess of the barn by building huge forts out of the hay bales.

Doc also loved playing dominoes, reading Western novels and eating ice cream floats and coconut pie.

Doc and Ilene saw many hardships in their lives, but those trials only served to make the family stronger. They taught everyone the importance of family.

He lived a long, strong and healthy life, never taking medication and only needing assistance in the last three months. He will be missed.

Doc was preceded in death by his father, Robert Davis; mother, Ella Bush Davis; brothers, Argie Davis, Alvie Davis, Barney Davis and Sherman Davis; wife, Ilene Madden Davis; son, Ronnie Davis; daughter, Erma Turner; son-in-law, Ronnie Turner and daughter-in-law, Georgia Davis.

He is survived by sisters, Carrie and Carolyn; daughters, Charliene Gosselin and husband, Ernie, of Brooken, Laura Miller and husband, Tony, of Brooken and Barbara Eakle and husband, Michael, of Brooken; sons, Jim Fitzer of Brooken, Robert Davis and Lisa Crabtree of Crowder and Gary Davis and wife, Belinda, of Yukon.

He also leaves a legacy of 19 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018, at Brooken Cemetery.

Stigler News-Sentinel

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