DAVIS, HELEN - 99 - Portland - Helen Violet (Walters) Davis passed away at Maine Medical Center on Sunday, March 31, 2013 after a brief illness. She was born in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia on July 28, 1913 to Milton A. Walters and Minnie Campbell Walters. She was the 3rd of 5 children born in the family. Dorothy and Frank were numbers 1 and 2 with Charlotte being number 4. Her mother and the 5th child died in childbirth when Helen was 5 years old, leaving the father to raise the children alone. Helen was born on the same day and month as her father which prompted her siblings to refer to her as “Dad’s gift from God”. She was raised in Sydney but left the Island to attend the then new Saint John Vocational School in Saint John, New Brunswick. While a student there she was the ward of the Reverend H.A. Cody, Archdeacon of the Anglican Church. She married Theodore H. Davis of Houlton, Maine in 1934 and they had one child, Wayne. Her husband’s job required extensive travel around Maine and Massachusetts and never one to sit idle, while living in Marlboro, Massachusetts she managed the cash office Jordan Marsh and served as one of their “live” models for their then weekly fashion shows. When the family ultimately moved back to Maine, in Rumford, she managed the United Stores Toy Shop for several seasons before managing Herbert’s Princess Shop for Ladies in Lewiston. She also was leader for two Brownie Girl Scout Troops for many years. After coming to Portland, she then worked for Casco Bank and Trust before switching to Maine Savings Bank as a Savings Councilor until her retirement in 1978. Her husband died in in 1981, after which she did volunteer work as the Receptionist on the Information Desk at the Maine Savings Plaza, the U.S. Public Health Dept., the Yarmouth Museum and the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce. She managed to travel frequently, taking cruises and tours for about 10 years with a childhood chum, Norman Cody. She resided at The Woods at Canco for eight years before moving to the Assisted Living Center at Seventy-Five State Street. She is survived by her son Wayne E. Davis; David B. Frost; as well as many nieces and nephews from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and British Columbia.
A funeral service will be held on Monday, April 8, 2013 at 11:00 AM at Lindquist Funeral Home, One Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth, ME 04096 with burial to follow in Riverside Cemetery, Smith Street, Yarmouth. Please visit www.lindquistfuneralhome.com to view a video collage of Helen’s life and to share condolences, memories and tributes with her family.