Janet W. Davis

Janet W Davis died at her residence at Valle Verde Retirement Community on July 20, 2017. She was born June 6, 1920 in Minneapolis, MN , the youngest daughter of Elizabeth B. and Donald M. Wesbrook. As a young child, the family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada where she received her primary and secondary education. In 1938 she entered Vassar College which she attended for one year. On Sept 2, 1938, she married S. Boyer Davis Jr., who was a teacher at Lenox School for boys at the time. During the school year they resided at the boarding school, and spent the summers at Camp Kipawa, a boys canoeing camp which Boyer had started on the Ottawa River in Quebec. During WW II, Janet raised her two sons while Boyer served four years in the US Navy. In 1946 Janet and Boyer and their two sons moved to the Sierra foothills town of Dunlap, California where they raised cattle. In the summers they operated Bar Seven Pack Trains in Kings Canyon National Park until 1962. During those years, Janet bore another son, attended to the family and household duties, maintained all the business records, shopped and cooked for hired help, worked cattle, and was the face of the pack station to customers. In 1962 Janet and Boyer moved to Carpinteria, California, where both began extended employment at Cate School until they retired to their avocado and lemon grove in Summerland. In addition to her job in the alumni office at Cate School, Janet volunteered for 25 years with the Santa Barbara Visiting Nurse and Hospice organization. In 1998, Janet and Boyer moved to Valle Verde, which became her home for nearly 20 years. She was very active in the community and was very fond of the staff and always appreciated them and the many friends she made while living there. She is survived by two sons, Samuel Boyer Davis III of Santa Rosa and Michael Davis (Diane) of Grand Junction, Colorado; daughter-in-law Wendy Davis, widow of youngest son, Donald; grandchildren Jeffrey (Shelley) Davis, Amy (Brett) White, and Jennifer Davis; and great grandchildren Calvin and Sydney Davis, and Christopher and Andrew White. A private memorial service will be held at the Valle Verde Retirement Community