Joyce Davis

Joyce Dart Davis, age 95, of Clearwater, Florida, passed away peacefully in her home on Sunday morning, October 20, 2024. Her family gathered the week before and spent time with her telling stories and sharing their love. Joyce was born in Hamburg, New York on May 30, 1929. She lived 50 years in Warren, PA with her beloved husband Donald F. Davis, and then moved to Regency Oaks in Clearwater in 2016 where she built a new life with loving friends and family.

Joyce showed mathematical talent from an early age and was extremely proud to be one of the few female math majors at Michigan State University. There she earned a BS in Mathematics and met her lifetime partner Don. When Joyce first saw Don standing in line for class registration, she said to her friends – “Watch me pick up that guy” and she married him two years later.

As a mathematician in 1952, Joyce was hired at Cornell Aeronautical Labs to support the engineering staff and was a “human computer” just like in the movie “Hidden Figures.”

Don and Joyce moved to Warren, PA in 1965 and built a wonderfully active social life and served as pillars in the community. They were both involved with a variety of nonprofits and the First Presbyterian Church of Warren, PA. After raising her children, Joyce was very active professionally, serving as Executive Director of the Warren Senior Center, Advertising Manager at Betty Lee’s women’s clothing store, and as a substitute Math teacher at Warren’s junior and senior high schools.

Don and Joyce loved Chautauqua Institution. They brought their children and grandchildren together at Chautauqua over many summers, forging a close and loving family and an enduring love of Chautauqua among her family.

Joyce and Don were members of the Warren Shakespeare Club which has been meeting on Tuesday evenings throughout each winter since 1884 to socialize and read Shakespeare as well as more modern texts.

Joyce was proud of her talent for telling stories and her talent for bridge – both benefiting from her amazing memory. Her bridge skills quickly made her a wanted commodity for games at Regency Oaks.

Joyce is survived by her three children: Jim Davis and wife Marcia Davis of Bloomington, IN; Carolyn (Lynn) Post and husband Mark Post of Hollis, NH; and Kim Hehr and husband David Hehr of Clearwater, FL. She is also survived by seven devoted grandchildren: Acacia Davis and husband Takatomo Inoue of Tokyo, Japan; Hillary Davis and husband Ganesh Ramnarine of Indianapolis, IN; Eric Davis of Brooklyn, NY; Hannah Post of Brooklyn, NY; Ben Post of Ashby, MA, Kyle Hehr of Clearwater, FL; and Karlie Hehr of Dunedin, FL, and one great-grandson, Arjun Ramnarine of Indianapolis, IN.

The family will receive friends for a Celebration of Life at noon on October 27, 2024, at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 2853 Sunset Point Road, Clearwater, FL.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Chautauqua Fund, PO Box 28, Chautauqua, NY 14722 or online at https://giving.chq.org/boundless/ or the Community Foundation of Warren County, 310 2nd Avenue, Suite 1, Warren, PA 16365.