Dorothy Camenga Davis

Better known as Dottie or Dot, she was born in 1924 in Brookfield, NY, to Carl and Gladys Camenga and spent her early years there, later moving to Syracuse, NY. She graduated from Eastwood High School in 1942 and the Syracuse Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in 1945. A cadet nurse during World War II, her last six months of training were spent nursing returning servicemen at Rhodes Army Hospital in Utica, NY.

She married her high school sweetheart, Ensign John D. “Jack” Davis, a member of the US Navy Air Corps on March 1, 1945, and they had forty-eight years together prior to his death in 1993. They raised five children together and lived in Vestal, NY, and Stamford, CT, arriving in Raleigh in 1969, punctuated by a two-year IBM assignment in Winchester, England. Everywhere they lived, they made lifelong friends.

Her faith was the foundation on which she built her life and was the basis for many of her volunteer activities, many of which surrounded her fifty-plus year membership in St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. She was a long-time choir member, Sunday School teacher, leader/trainer in the Stephen Ministry program, member and President of the United Methodist Women and served many years as the wedding reception coordinator. Making good use of her nursing background and compassion for others, she also served as a volunteer clinic nurse with the Wake County Health Department, as a Red Cross bloodmobile volunteer, and with Hospice of Raleigh. Dot enthusiastically traveled to various countries even after Jack passed away. She was also a lifelong and formidable bridge and cribbage player, forming treasured friendships within these groups.

She is survived by her children: Diane, Scott (Cea), Eric (Karen) and daughter-in-law Pat, four grandchildren and one great grandchild, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Jack, children Bruce and Jackie, brothers and sisters-in-law Bob (Jane) Camenga, Mike (Pat) Camenga and Norm (Ruth) Davis.

A memorial service will be held at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church at 4801 Six Forks Rd, Raleigh, NC 27609, on August 26 at 2:00pm with a reception immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: Transitions LifeCare, Philanthropy Dept., 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607 or St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 4801 Six Forks Rd, Raleigh, NC 27609

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