Obituary of Walter D. Davis

Walter David Davis of Pomfret Road, Putnam died peacefully at Day Kimball Hospital early on the morning of Wednesday, November 15, 2006 after a brief illness. He was the husband of the late Winnifred LePire Davis, who died on August 20 of this year, and the son of Bridget Power Davis and Stanley Ausman Davis. Walter always lived within a short distance of the old Davis homestead on Pomfret Road, Putnam, where he grew up. He often told the story of how, as a child on his walk to mass at Most Holy Trinity Church in Pomfret, he passed an 1820 colonial at the top of Hickey Hill, telling himself that he would own it someday. He and Winnie bought the house in 1937 and lived there for 65 years, creating a warm and welcoming home.. He was delighted when their son Bobs daughter Maureen and her family bought the house and continued the farming tradition he had established during World War II, when farming and raising food were seen as part of the war effort. From the time he began working at CL&P as a meter reader and moved to Pomfret, Walter was always engaged in civic, social, and church activities while helping to raise his family of three children. He was a founding member and president of the first light and power union in this area. He was a lifelong member of the Putnam Grange, the Putnam Order of the BPOE, of which he was a Past Exalted Ruler, and, until age limited him, an active congregant and choir member of Most Holy Trinity Church. In the 40s and 50s he was a member of Pomfrets Volunteer Fire Department. He was on the committee that worked to bring about the amalgamation of the neighborhood schools in Pomfret into todays Pomfret Community School, where he and Winnie were active in the PTA, of which he became a president. Serving on the School Board, he became Chairman as well as a representative to the Connecticut Association of School Boards. He was an active member of the local Red Cross and a ten gallon blood donor. His daughters Kay and Judy treasure the memory of singing together and participating with him in the Variety Shows that were popular in the Putnam area in the 1950s. Walter went on to become an automobile salesman at area dealerships and an insurance adjuster for Aetna in Hartford. Retiring in 1974, Walter remained active in the community, joining the Pomfret Historical Society and becoming a docent at the Brayton Grist mill. He was a popular choice for committee work, serving as Pomfrets representative to the Regional Transit Authority when it was first formed, as a founding member and President of the Pomfret Seniors, as a representative of the Seniors to the development of Seely Brown Village, and as member of the committee that formed Pomfrets Community Home and Health Care. Walter will be deeply missed by his children, Robert S. Davis of Pomfret, Kathleen C. Davis of Mason, Michigan, and Judith D. Miller of Branford. He is also mourned by his six grandchildren: Kathleen Miller of Middletown, David Hildebrandt of Mason, Michigan, William Hildebrandt of Lafayette, Oregon, Sharon Hogue of Putnam, Maureen Lane of Pomfret, and Scott Miller of Portland, Maine. He is also survived by 14 great grandchildren. A Memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, November 18th at 11:00 AM at Most Holy Trinity Church, 568 Pomfret Street, Pomfret., followed by burial in the Grove St. Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Chaplaincy Fund or Hospice at Day Kimball Hospital.