Dean W. Davis

Dean W. Davis, age 89, of Savage Farm Drive died on Tuesday, May 29th at Kendal of Ithaca. He was married to Ruth Howell Davis for 64 years. Dean was born in Cleveland, Ohio December 6, 1917 and came to Ithaca and Cornell with the start of the Naval Officer's Training School in 1942. He later served in the western Pacific with the Seventh Fleet during WW II. After serving in the Navy, Dean returned to ithaca and was a partner with Ruth's father John S. Howell in a wholesale grocery business. He later enjoyed various employment experiences and retired as a research technician with the Vegetable Crops Department in the NYS College of Agriculture at Cornell in 1972. When their three children were "out of the nest," Dean and Ruth served three years with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and Swaziland, Africa then settled in Florida for the next fifteen years. They returned to central New York and lived in Dryden, NY before moving to Kendal of Ithaca. Dean was a deacon and elder and enjoyed doing many volunteer tasks at the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, an important part of his life. Dean is survived by his wife Ruth Howell Davis, his son and daughter-in-law Duane and Terry Davis of Ithaca, his daughter Mary Owens of Fairview Heights, Illinois and his daughter and son-in-law Carol and Jeff Smith of Trumansburg, NY. He is also survived by nine grandchildren; Stephanie Long and Daniel Davis; Kimberly Nalda, Katherine Eckstein, Christopher Owens and Virginia Owens; Nicholas, Robin and Amanda Davis; and six great-grandchildren Jack and Erin Long, Katherine Davis, Bethanie, Kaitlyn, and Blake Davis and a 7th great granddaughter Nalda due in June.

A memorial service to be announced at a later date will be at the

convenience of the family.