Valley County, IDGenWeb Project | |
Kenneth Lester Davis of Warren passed away on June 15, 2011.
A celebration of Ken’s well-lived and much-loved life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 9, in Warren.
Born on July 10, 1944 in Park Rapids, Minn., Ken was the oldest child of Lester Davis and Hannah Teigan Davis. Ken graduated from Park Rapids High School in 1962 after lettering in all sports.
Ken married Jeanette Rosemary Schmitz on Nov. 30, 1963. As an avid hunter from an early age, Ken insisted that the wedding be held after the end of hunting season so he could have one last hunting season as a single man.
As a meat cutter for SuperValu Foods, Ken lived in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin until 1970, when he moved to Idaho. Ken and Jeanette loaded up their Pickup camper and U-Haul trailer with all their worldly possessions and two little girls and headed to Idaho.
Ken picked Idaho, a place he had never been, after carefully determining that Idaho had the longest hunting season and the lowest per capita population of the lower 48 states.
Arriving in Boise, Ken began working for Albertson’s and eventually became the meat manager for the Caldwell store. Ken jumped into the Idaho life style with gusto. He quickly acquired horses and loved extended hunting trips in Idaho’s backcountry with his hunting buddies.
After many years of driving to McCall every winter weekend for snowmobiling, Ken moved to McCall in 1975 and became the meat manager for Shaver’s supermarket.
Loving the McCall area, Ken became an active member of the McCall Chamber of Commerce. He was the McCall Winter Carnival Chairman in 1979 and was active in the snowmobile commission, helping establish the Snowmobile grooming program into Warren. In 1975, during his first summer in McCall, Ken suffered a major heart attack at the age of 29. As a result, Ken developed a zest for living life to the fullest and was determined to enjoy every moment he had. While recovering from the heart attack, Ken and Jeanette were introduced to small historic mining community of Warren. From that point on, Ken’s home was always Warren. Ken bought his own cabin in Warren in 1979. For the past decade or so, Ken was the honorary “mayor” of Warren and a founding member of the Warren Water Board. With their partners, Ken and Jeanette built and operated Disco Foods in 1980 (currently Woody’s Old Town Station) and Aspen Market in 1981. Ken and Jeanette also owned and operated The Pitcher Bar in McCall (now Woody’s BBQ) for many years - the bar where the local loggers and cowboys were always welcome. From 1986 until his retirement in 1999, Ken and Jeanette lived a vagabond life style, working as meat cutter and wrapper in Palm Springs, Calif., in the winter and McCall in the summer. Ken and Jeanette lived in Palm Springs in the winter and Warren every summer since. Ken enjoyed camping, hunting and fishing at every opportunity. He enjoyed teaching his daughters to enjoy the outdoor life including hunting, fishing and horseback riding. Ken took great pride in his six grandchildren and was pleased to share his outdoor knowledge with them, taking them fishing, shooting and hunting. Ken is preceded in death by both parents. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Jeanette Davis of Warren; daughters Lisa Davis Greer of McCall and Lori Davis Young of Boise; sons-in-laws, Rusty Greer and Ron Young; and his grandchildren Shaun Young, Burbank, Calif.; Jennifer Young, Burbank Calif.; Patrick Greer, USMMA Kings Point, N.Y.; Melissa Young, Burbank, Calif.; Justin Greer, McCall; and Casey Young, Boise. He is also survived by his two sisters, Joyce Beck of Bemidji, Minn., and Cathy Anderson of Grandby, Colo. Numerous nieces, nephews and a wealth of friends also survive him.
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