Jane Smith Davis

Jane Smith Davis, 92, died Friday, May 16, 2014, at Butterfield Trail Village, Fayetteville, Ark., after 71 years of marriage to Thomas Dean Davis. They often said: "We have a trial marriage." She was born Dec. 3, 1921, in Bentonville, Ark., to Earl Webster Smith and Helen Stuart Brown Smith. They soon moved to Siloam Springs, Ark., and then to Muskogee, Okla. Jane was the perfect wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and loyal friend. Her smile and bright blue eyes charmed everyone. She never said an unkind word about anyone, always finding the good in all people. She did hate the wind when it messed with her weekly hairdos. She loved a party. She loved antiquing, art history, playing bridge, bookclubs, the ladies golf tour, collecting art, and weekly trips to Mermaids and Fresco restaurants. She followed high fashion and was elegant in her own right. She was an expert listener and gave wise counsel. Jane loved her years at Boxtree Farm, a historic farmhouse in Pennsylvania, where she had Slipper the dog, Hermon the cat and taught her neighbors to call the Hogs. Jane and Tom met at the University of Oklahoma and were married July 19, 1942, in Muskogee, Okla. Jane graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in English and speech, completing her final year while Tom began the first of four years of Army service. She was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Jane worked for the Army Signal Corps, Fort Sill, Okla., and as a payroll specialist at Camp Gruber, Okla., and at the Maison Blanche Bookstore, New Orleans. She was a nature guide at Ridley Creek State Park, Edgmont Township, Pa., and a Huntington (West Virginia) Museum of Art docent. Jane and Tom greatly enjoyed spending one month a year in Switzerland for 13 years. Family and friends joined them there. Jane made two University of Arkansas trips to China. On one, Jane and Tom were tossed into desert sand by an unhappy camel. History and drama were the subjects studied on two university trips by Jane to London, followed by week-long tours of Scotland. She also relished travel with friends to Africa, Mexico, New York City and many beautiful Arkansas state parks, plus trips to see her daughter and family in the Philippines, Italy, Spain, Greece and France. Tom's journalism and university teaching careers took Jane and Tom to Lawton, Okla., New Orleans, Muskogee, Norman and Altus, Okla., Nyack, N.Y., Lubbock, Texas, Little Rock, Ark., Dearborn, Mich., Media, Pa., Russellville, Ark., and Huntington, W.Va. Jane was preceded in death by her parents; and sister, Helen Stuart Smith Asquith. Survivors include her husband, Tom; daughters, Anne Elizabeth Davis and husband, Col. (U.S. Army, Ret.) Francis Alexander Nerone, of Falls Church, Va., Dean Stuart Davis and husband, Steven Caverly Moise, of Burlington, N.J.; sons, Bren Field Davis of Mesa, Ariz., and Kent Wentworth Davis of Philadelphia, Pa.; grandchildren, Ernestine Stuart Davis Nunez of Homestead, Fla., Charmaine Elizabeth Nerone of Richmond, Va., Thomas Christopher Davis of San Francisco and Helen Elaina Davis of Lansdowne, Pa.; great-grandchildren, Ava Elizabeth Nunez, Damian Elias Nunez and Olivia Marie Brown; nieces and nephews, Susan Jane Asquith, Melinda Stuart Asquith McKinney, Marcia Elizabeth Asquith and John Hayward Asquith. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. Arrangements under the direction of Moore's Chapel. Memorials may be made to: Butterfield Trail Village Foundation, 1923 E. Joyce Blvd., Fayetteville, AR 72703; Harrison-Whitehead UA Creative Writing Endowment, Fayetteville Community Foundation, P.O. Box 997, Fayetteville. AR 72702; Single Parent Scholarship Fund of NWA, 16 W. Colt Square, Fayetteville, AR 72703. For condolences, please visit www.mooresfuneralchapel.com.