Mary-Rita Davis and her husband George lived a decades-long love story.
They met while she was in high school in Chicago, and he was the manager of the local A&P. Davis would find any number of reasons to shop there, so she could see him.
“She told my grandmother she was going to marry him,” said daughter Clarita Morris. “In 67 years, they never left each other’s side except when dad was in service.”
The pair eloped in 1941. Since they were both living with their parents, they would take off their rings when not with each other. They were soon married in another ceremony in church and so had two anniversaries, their daughter said.
When Morris was a child her mother got very sick, but “it was her will,” that kept her alive. “She was a very strong woman,” her daughter said. She went on to a long life with three children, 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. She was an active member of St. Ann Catholic Church in Lansing, where she taught both children and adults.
“She was the most giving person,” her daughter said, “No was not in her vocabulary.” A loving and devoted wife and mom, Davis was known by all for her vegetable soup and spinach salad. She loved to read and would devour “anything she could get her hands-on,” especially books that were about angels.
She and her husband loved to spend time at Wolf Lake, in Baldwin, Mich. “She would read and Daddy would fish.”
“Mom has a very warm, loving and giving heart,” Morris said. “She would do anything for anybody. She loved to be with her family. She was mom to my friends, to my brothers’ friends, to everybody. Everything she could give, she gave. She gave of herself, she gave unconditionally, loved unconditionally.”
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