Arney Davis

Kerrville Arney Mitchell Davis, 92, of Kerrville, passed from this life on September 22, 2011.

Born Beulah Arney Mitchell, in Colorado Springs, CO on August 22, 1919, Arney lived the first three years of her life in Wheelock, Robertson County, Texas. Her parents, James Harvey Mitchell and Beulah Cavitt Mitchell, each had family close by in Robertson County.

In 1923, Arneys parents moved to Kerrville, which was to be Arneys home until she married. In 1936, she graduated from Kerrvilles Tivy High School, and then went on to obtain a bachelors degree in music education in 1940 from TWU formerly Texas State College for Women. As a music teacher, she took a oneyear teaching position in the South Texas town of Premont.

Her marriage to John D. Jack Davis, Jr. in Kerrvilles First Presbyterian Church on Christmas Eve, 1940 led to a move in 1941 to Corpus Christi, TX, where Jack began a civil service career at the Naval Air Station. With Jack in the Navy during WWII years, Arney moved several times, which took her from coast to coast as well as back home to Texas to have babies.

Settling back in Corpus Christi after WWII, she raised three children before entering the workforce in 1958 as Office Manager and Treasurer for South Texas Presbytery. She became a mom one more time in 1962, and then moved in 1963 to Cherry Hill, NJ, as Jack transferred to his last civil service position in Philadelphia, PA.

Retirement for Jack in 1973 brought Arney back home to Kerrville where she presided over the Hill Country Arts Foundation and the Kerrville Performing Arts Society. She was a lifetime and founding board member of the Riverside Nature Center Association, was a lifetime member of the of the Library, a member of the Symphony of the Hills, and was a Ruling Elder in the First Presbyterian Church.

Arney was a beloved and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother. She was a published writer, she loved gardening and woodcarving, she was an excellent pianist, music lover, music teacher, and chef extraordinaire.

Following Jacks death in 1997 Arney moved to Schoharie, NY, to live with daughter Susan Davis Bramer, but moved back home again to Kerrville in 2003.

Arney was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, in February, 1997, and her son, Andrew Cavitt Davis, in December, 2001.

Survivors include son John D. Davis, III and wife Marcia Weaver Davis of New Braunfels, TX daughter Jan Davis Cavitt and husband Rusty Hyde of Ferndale, WA and daughter Susan Davis Bramer and husband Richard Bramer of Schoharie, NY.

Her seven grandchildren include grandsons Jay Bramer of Albany, NY Mark Davis of New Braunfels, TX Michael Cramer of Prague, Czech Republic Joel Bramer of Middleburgh, NY Scott Davis of Sulphur Springs, TX Daniel Davis of New Braunfels, TX and granddaughter Elaine Harman Macurdy of Belmont, MA. Arney has six greatgranddaughters, four greatgrandsons, one sisterinlaw, Roberta Mitchell of Austin, TX, and one niece, Lynn Mitchell Bridge also of Austin, TX.

There will be no visitation.

A celebration of her life will be held on October 15, 2011 at the First Presbyterian Church of Kerrville at 11:00AM.

The family suggests that gifts can be sent to the First Presbyterian Church, Kerrville Performing Arts Society, Schreiner University, or Peterson Hospice.

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