Flora Mae Davis

Flora Mae Keeton Davis, an industrious and enterprising woman whose spirit and strength were indicative of the World War II generation, died Thursday, July 10, at a local hospital after a short illness. She was 89.



Born in Sardis, Tenn., in 1919, Mrs. Davis moved to Clifton, Tenn., on the banks of the Tennessee River in the 1930s. She owned a small family pharmacy and served as a midwife. Many of the children she delivered were named Flora in her honor.



She brought many lives into the world and saved countless others as an assistant to her father, Dr. John T. Keeton, the town's physician. When Dr. Keeton passed, many in the small town far from any hospital continued to rely on her care and advice.



During World War II, she was the civilian head of the X-ray department at Camp Forrest, a large U.S. Army training base near Tullahoma, Tenn. It was there she met her husband, Perry Phillips Davis, Sr. They were married for 47 years until his death in 1989.



Mrs. Davis also wrote a popular column for the Wayne County News- Riverviews from Clifton - which she continued to pen after moving to St. Petersburg in 1993. She is pictured on a town mural in Clifton, in the corner, reporter's notebook in hand.



She and her husband also ran a U.S. Postal Service route and raised horses, cows and other livestock on their farm.



In St. Petersburg, Mrs. Davis enjoyed volunteering at Wesley United Methodist Church and was a regular behind the register at the church thrift shop. She enjoyed spending time with many new friends and was a member of the Pennsylvania Society.



Mrs. Davis loved stories. Among her creations was Suzie the U.S. Air Force

mouse, a character she invented to help her grandchildren get used to moving around the world as a military family. She also told great ghost stories and indulged herself as a longtime fan of soap operas and romance novels.



She loved to watch cooking shows and was a skilled craftswoman, working in ceramics and needlepoint.



Mrs. Davis was a passionate collector with a special fondness for antique dolls and shot glasses from around the world. She served as the family historian, maintaining photo collections and detailed notes.



She is survived by her son, Perry Phillips Davis, Jr. and daughter-in-law, Carol Davis; a granddaughter, Cindy Hardy and a grandson, Phillips Davis; two great-grandchildren, Sean and Shannon Hardy; and two granddogs, whom she indulged with marshmallows.