Renee was a childhood friend of my mother Evie Berends, her sister Aasje and brother Gerrit.  My grandmother regarded Renee as another one of her children.  As kids, the four of them grew up together in Indonesia.  In the early 50's, as refugees they fled to Holland where each made a new life while staying in touch.  In the early 60's, they immigrated to the United States to find the American Dream.  Through it all,  their friendships remained and they supported each other.  Renee was a part of our family and we will remember her with love.

A memory- my father, Gerrit Berends, still listens to Harry Belafonte at his long term residence in Sacramento.  It reminds us of Tante Rene as she had the most expansive collection of calypso music I've ever seen.  Such sweet memories of my dad, Rene and I and others  playing music together in her living room. 

Dear family,
It is with sadness that I read of Rene's passing.  She was my father's dearest friend from back in Indonesia.  My mother and father stayed with her in San Jose in 2019 and we played our guitars and piano with her, singing old Indo tunes and laughing.  We called her "Tante Rene" and always assumed we were related.  She will never be forgotten and always remembered with love and great memories.
Gwen Berends Meinhardt for Gerrit and Lis (passed away 12/2021) Berends.

Renee was a special friend of mine at the South Valley Family YMCA, sharing stories, our love of music and family.   I miss her .... miss her smile and her welcoming hello whenever I'd see her, which was often over the years.     Rest in peace, Renee.     You were very special. 


​Renee was 26 years old when I was born. Our families were friends for many years in former Dutch Indonesia, where they were neighbors and again in The Hague in the Netherlands. Renee and my Dad have sang and played guitar together since their childhood. When my parents asked Renee to become my Godmother she was very honoured and I have felt that my whole life. When she became my Godmother I became her daughter. Even though we lived on separate continents she was always there for me. For many years she traveled regularly to the Netherlands. I grew up with my Dad and Renee making music together. Those are my sunny childhood memories of Renee. 
When I became an adult we got to know and understand each other on a higher level. Renee asked the right questions and listened. She never judged. With her I had a home away from home. She had a sense of humour, we laughed together​ a lot​. In the car she sang songs of the forties. I enjoyed that so much. I knew almost every song because my Dad sang them too. I remember their maps with copies of lyrics, both the same copies in San Jose and in The Hague. 
Renee has always kept in touch with her family and friends all over the world. She was close with my family in France and Australia. 

When I heard that Renee had passed I went to her old church in The Hague. I was joined by Claire, the daughter of Monica, a good friend of Renee. We lit a candle for her. It was in the same church where she held me as a baby and became my Godmother.​ 
​When my Dad passed away in the Netherlands I was with Renee, just before Christmas 2018. She took me to her church and we lit a candle for my father. 

I am so glad that I visited Renee just before she passed away. It was totally unexpected. She taught me so much and I'm grateful she was in my life.​ ​I miss her, I will love and remember Renee forever.

Mrs. Davis is someone who had such a lasting impact to her students that to this day I have only positive memories of my time at Villa. She truly cared about her students and Villa will forever be a reminder of that. 

Broke my heart to hear news about this beautiful Angel. She loved our family and man did we LOVE her. 💕 She was like a mother to my mom and a grandma to my sister, brother and me. My mom and her had such a special bond. Pure love is what it was. She never forgot our birthdays and always gave us the funniest cards. She always thought of us. I will miss her looking through her window checking up on us. I will miss surprising her on her birthday with flowers and us taking her to grab what ever kind of food she wanted. Her favorite pie was the Custard pie from Marie Calenders and she loved and I mean loved the wings from Kentucky Fried chicken. You had to make sure to ask for extra crunchy. She would know if you didn’t. 🤣 She was selfless. She saved me everything and anything Giants that’s came in the mail and would always save me dream catchers. I never knew where she got them but she always thought of me and I loved them. 💕 She NEVER came over without treats for the dogs. They too loved her. I know she lived such a long full life but it doesn’t lessen the pain of losing her. My family will aways love you. I just wish we could of said goodbye. 💕🕊💕

OBITUARY

A. Renee Davis

10 September, 1935 – 22 June, 2022

Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park

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