Frankie Onaleta Russell West-Davis
Published 2:35 pm Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Mrs. West-Davis was born March 18, 1926 at home in Walker County outside Huntsville, Texas to Carl and Frankie Russell, the fifth of seven siblings. Her father and mother taught school and in addition he ministered to migrant farm workers, frequently moving his family back and forth between East and West Texas in an old model T truck that could only back up steep hills. She graduated from high school in Eldorado, Texas but interrupted further education to work for the war effort munitions factory in San Antonio. She later transferred to work near the family home in Baytown , Texas . She often used a quote from her secretarial teacher “ it was the duty of every young woman to go to work to support the war effort”.
She married Wayne Garland West on August 26, 1946 and to this union were born 3 children: Gregory Alan, Claudia Ann and Philip Michael. She was a homemaker while he worked for Sears and Roebuck Company in Houston , Waco and Orange , Texas and Lake Charles , Louisiana . She attended Lee College in Baytown , Lamar University in Beaumont Texas earning her Associate degree. She worked in her sister’s accounting and real estate office and as a substitute teacher.
After the death of Wayne in 1996 she married Otis Davis, a friend from high school. He passed away in 2013.
In addition to her role as a homemaker and mother she was involved in the life of her communities. She served on the altar guilds of the various Episcopal parishes where she lived and was a member of Daughters of the King. She served as president of the Parent Teacher’s Association while her children were in school and was a Girl Scout leader. She introduced Girl Scouting to Orange , Texas , having started the first troop there. She served twice as president of her chapter of The Daughters of 1812, and was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Texas Revolution, the Magna Carta Dames and the Jamestown Society.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Wilson and John as well as her sisters Elon, Mattie, Carla, their spouses and her son Phillip.
She is survived by her younger sister, Maurice Wilson of Houston Texas, a sister-in-law Mildred East of Caldwell Texas; 2 children, Gregory who lives with his wife Cynthia in Brandenburg, Kentucky and Claudia who lives with her husband Clifton Duke in Houston Texas; 4 grandchildren: Lindsay, Allison and Kevin Duke, all from Houston, Texas and Benjamin West, his wife Carissa and their daughter Ramona in St. Louis, Missouri.
Mrs. West-Davis will be interred in the McAdams Family Cemetery near Huntsville, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Trent-Dowell Funeral Home in Hardinsburg, KY assisted the family with arrangements.