Paul Anthony Davis, age 95, died 9 November 2023 in Cathedral City. Born to Basil Davis and Martha Lauerman Davis in Gary, Lake County, Indiana, on 27 July 1928, he was a graduate of Horace Mann High in 1946. He enrolled in Gary Business College and also took evening courses at Gary College, which became Indiana University Northwest. Proficient in typing and shorthand, he became a secretary to John W. Anderson, founder of the Anderson Company in Gary (maker of the famous Anco windshield wiper blades) until entering the U.S Army in 1951.
He was commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the Signal Corps in 1952 and taught rifle marksmanship at Camp (later Fort) Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, before serving as communications officer in the 32nd Infantry Regiment in Korea. After his battalion took part in the famous Pork Chop Hill Battle in 1953, he was awarded a Bronze Star and also earned the Combat Infantry Badge. Serving in the Army Reserves while attending Indiana University, he graduated with high distinction in 1956 with a B.S. in Education, which he followed up with a Master of Arts for Teachers in 1957. He began a teaching career in California, retiring in1987 from the Downey Unified School District.
He was a member of the state council of the California Teacher Association and held many offices in the Downey chapter, receiving several honors. Proud of his membership in the National Education Association, he was a delegate at more than a dozen national conventions.
During his 30 years of teaching, he completed many postgraduate courses at the University of California (Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Francisco and other campuses), Pepperdine University, and at several campuses of the California State University System. An innovative English teacher, he was a guest lecturer at the Claremont Colleges in Pomona, CA and other colleges.
He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. An avid bridge-player, gardener/botanist, bird-watcher and hiker, he was heavily involved in those pursuits and became very knowledgeable about the Mecca Hills wilderness east of the Coachella Valley.
After Moving to Palm Springs in 1988, he became active in the California Retired Teacher Association and was a founding member of the Palm Springs chapter, serving as treasurer and secretary in following years. For several years he was a volunteer in the H.O.S.T.S program at Cathedral City Elementary School and as a literacy volunteer through the Palm Springs library. The Stroke Recovery Center then claimed him as a volunteer, where he conducted a program known as Word Power for many years in twice-weekly sessions.
Having won awards for his poetry at Indiana University and in other contests, he also taught journalism at Downey Adult School, and throughout his career produced or edited newsletters for the school district, the teachers' associations, and homeowners' associations. Fascinated by genealogy, he became secretary and then president of the Palm Springs Genealogical Society, while lecturing on his specialty of German genealogy at meetings of many local societies in that general area, from Indio to Yucca Valley.
His series of articles on the German pioneers of Lake County, Indiana, published in the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society newsletter, was collected into book form; his name is also found in the catalog of the LDS Family History Center in Salt Lake City as the author of an introduction to a collection of German parish data.
He is survived by his brother, Jerome F. Davis, of Chesterton, Indiana, and his now deceased sister, Jane F. Lamey, of Glenview, Illinois; his now deceased sister-in-law (dear friend and fellow genealogist) Lucille Beckman Davis of Chesterton; seven beloved nieces and nephews, their spouses and children; and a host of cousin and dear friends, including Joseph Parrillo and Dennis Kelly of Palm Springs, who are now deceased.
At his request, there will be no formal funeral services; his ashes will be interred in Calumet Park Cemetery beside his parents in Merrillville, Indiana. Donations may be made to the Stroke Recovery Center in Palm Springs or to charities such as F.I.N.D. in his memory.
He was commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the Signal Corps in 1952 and taught rifle marksmanship at Camp (later Fort) Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, before serving as communications officer in the 32nd Infantry Regiment in Korea. After his battalion took part in the famous Pork Chop Hill Battle in 1953, he was awarded a Bronze Star and also earned the Combat Infantry Badge. Serving in the Army Reserves while attending Indiana University, he graduated with high distinction in 1956 with a B.S. in Education, which he followed up with a Master of Arts for Teachers in 1957. He began a teaching career in California, retiring in1987 from the Downey Unified School District.
He was a member of the state council of the California Teacher Association and held many offices in the Downey chapter, receiving several honors. Proud of his membership in the National Education Association, he was a delegate at more than a dozen national conventions.
During his 30 years of teaching, he completed many postgraduate courses at the University of California (Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Francisco and other campuses), Pepperdine University, and at several campuses of the California State University System. An innovative English teacher, he was a guest lecturer at the Claremont Colleges in Pomona, CA and other colleges.
He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. An avid bridge-player, gardener/botanist, bird-watcher and hiker, he was heavily involved in those pursuits and became very knowledgeable about the Mecca Hills wilderness east of the Coachella Valley.
After Moving to Palm Springs in 1988, he became active in the California Retired Teacher Association and was a founding member of the Palm Springs chapter, serving as treasurer and secretary in following years. For several years he was a volunteer in the H.O.S.T.S program at Cathedral City Elementary School and as a literacy volunteer through the Palm Springs library. The Stroke Recovery Center then claimed him as a volunteer, where he conducted a program known as Word Power for many years in twice-weekly sessions.
Having won awards for his poetry at Indiana University and in other contests, he also taught journalism at Downey Adult School, and throughout his career produced or edited newsletters for the school district, the teachers' associations, and homeowners' associations. Fascinated by genealogy, he became secretary and then president of the Palm Springs Genealogical Society, while lecturing on his specialty of German genealogy at meetings of many local societies in that general area, from Indio to Yucca Valley.
His series of articles on the German pioneers of Lake County, Indiana, published in the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society newsletter, was collected into book form; his name is also found in the catalog of the LDS Family History Center in Salt Lake City as the author of an introduction to a collection of German parish data.
He is survived by his brother, Jerome F. Davis, of Chesterton, Indiana, and his now deceased sister, Jane F. Lamey, of Glenview, Illinois; his now deceased sister-in-law (dear friend and fellow genealogist) Lucille Beckman Davis of Chesterton; seven beloved nieces and nephews, their spouses and children; and a host of cousin and dear friends, including Joseph Parrillo and Dennis Kelly of Palm Springs, who are now deceased.
At his request, there will be no formal funeral services; his ashes will be interred in Calumet Park Cemetery beside his parents in Merrillville, Indiana. Donations may be made to the Stroke Recovery Center in Palm Springs or to charities such as F.I.N.D. in his memory.
Paul Anthony Davis, age 95, died 9 November 2023 in Cathedral City. Born to Basil Davis and Martha Lauerman Davis in Gary, Lake County, Indiana, on 27 July 1928, he was a graduate of Horace Mann High in 1946. He enrolled in Gary Business College and also took evening courses at Gary College, which became Indiana University Northwest. Proficient in typing and shorthand, he became a secretary to John W. Anderson, founder of the Anderson Company in Gary (maker of the famous Anco windshield wiper blades) until entering the U.S Army in 1951.
He was commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the Signal Corps in 1952 and taught rifle marksmanship at Camp (later Fort) Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, before serving as communications officer in the 32nd Infantry Regiment in Korea. After his battalion took part in the famous Pork Chop Hill Battle in 1953, he was awarded a Bronze Star and also earned the Combat Infantry Badge. Serving in the Army Reserves while attending Indiana University, he graduated with high distinction in 1956 with a B.S. in Education, which he followed up with a Master of Arts for Teachers in 1957. He began a teaching career in California, retiring in1987 from the Downey Unified School District.
He was a member of the state council of the California Teacher Association and held many offices in the Downey chapter, receiving several honors. Proud of his membership in the National Education Association, he was a delegate at more than a dozen national conventions.
During his 30 years of teaching, he completed many postgraduate courses at the University of California (Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Francisco and other campuses), Pepperdine University, and at several campuses of the California State University System. An innovative English teacher, he was a guest lecturer at the Claremont Colleges in Pomona, CA and other colleges.
He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. An avid bridge-player, gardener/botanist, bird-watcher and hiker, he was heavily involved in those pursuits and became very knowledgeable about the Mecca Hills wilderness east of the Coachella Valley.
After Moving to Palm Springs in 1988, he became active in the California Retired Teacher Association and was a founding member of the Palm Springs chapter, serving as treasurer and secretary in following years. For several years he was a volunteer in the H.O.S.T.S program at Cathedral City Elementary School and as a literacy volunteer through the Palm Springs library. The Stroke Recovery Center then claimed him as a volunteer, where he conducted a program known as Word Power for many years in twice-weekly sessions.
Having won awards for his poetry at Indiana University and in other contests, he also taught journalism at Downey Adult School, and throughout his career produced or edited newsletters for the school district, the teachers' associations, and homeowners' associations. Fascinated by genealogy, he became secretary and then president of the Palm Springs Genealogical Society, while lecturing on his specialty of German genealogy at meetings of many local societies in that general area, from Indio to Yucca Valley.
His series of articles on the German pioneers of Lake County, Indiana, published in the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society newsletter, was collected into book form; his name is also found in the catalog of the LDS Family History Center in Salt Lake City as the author of an introduction to a collection of German parish data.
He is survived by his brother, Jerome F. Davis, of Chesterton, Indiana, and his now deceased sister, Jane F. Lamey, of Glenview, Illinois; his now deceased sister-in-law (dear friend and fellow genealogist) Lucille Beckman Davis of Chesterton; seven beloved nieces and nephews, their spouses and children; and a host of cousin and dear friends, including Joseph Parrillo and Dennis Kelly of Palm Springs, who are now deceased.
At his request, there will be no formal funeral services; his ashes will be interred in Calumet Park Cemetery beside his parents in Merrillville, Indiana. Donations may be made to the Stroke Recovery Center in Palm Springs or to charities such as F.I.N.D. in his memory.
He was commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the Signal Corps in 1952 and taught rifle marksmanship at Camp (later Fort) Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, before serving as communications officer in the 32nd Infantry Regiment in Korea. After his battalion took part in the famous Pork Chop Hill Battle in 1953, he was awarded a Bronze Star and also earned the Combat Infantry Badge. Serving in the Army Reserves while attending Indiana University, he graduated with high distinction in 1956 with a B.S. in Education, which he followed up with a Master of Arts for Teachers in 1957. He began a teaching career in California, retiring in1987 from the Downey Unified School District.
He was a member of the state council of the California Teacher Association and held many offices in the Downey chapter, receiving several honors. Proud of his membership in the National Education Association, he was a delegate at more than a dozen national conventions.
During his 30 years of teaching, he completed many postgraduate courses at the University of California (Los Angeles, Berkeley, San Francisco and other campuses), Pepperdine University, and at several campuses of the California State University System. An innovative English teacher, he was a guest lecturer at the Claremont Colleges in Pomona, CA and other colleges.
He traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. An avid bridge-player, gardener/botanist, bird-watcher and hiker, he was heavily involved in those pursuits and became very knowledgeable about the Mecca Hills wilderness east of the Coachella Valley.
After Moving to Palm Springs in 1988, he became active in the California Retired Teacher Association and was a founding member of the Palm Springs chapter, serving as treasurer and secretary in following years. For several years he was a volunteer in the H.O.S.T.S program at Cathedral City Elementary School and as a literacy volunteer through the Palm Springs library. The Stroke Recovery Center then claimed him as a volunteer, where he conducted a program known as Word Power for many years in twice-weekly sessions.
Having won awards for his poetry at Indiana University and in other contests, he also taught journalism at Downey Adult School, and throughout his career produced or edited newsletters for the school district, the teachers' associations, and homeowners' associations. Fascinated by genealogy, he became secretary and then president of the Palm Springs Genealogical Society, while lecturing on his specialty of German genealogy at meetings of many local societies in that general area, from Indio to Yucca Valley.
His series of articles on the German pioneers of Lake County, Indiana, published in the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society newsletter, was collected into book form; his name is also found in the catalog of the LDS Family History Center in Salt Lake City as the author of an introduction to a collection of German parish data.
He is survived by his brother, Jerome F. Davis, of Chesterton, Indiana, and his now deceased sister, Jane F. Lamey, of Glenview, Illinois; his now deceased sister-in-law (dear friend and fellow genealogist) Lucille Beckman Davis of Chesterton; seven beloved nieces and nephews, their spouses and children; and a host of cousin and dear friends, including Joseph Parrillo and Dennis Kelly of Palm Springs, who are now deceased.
At his request, there will be no formal funeral services; his ashes will be interred in Calumet Park Cemetery beside his parents in Merrillville, Indiana. Donations may be made to the Stroke Recovery Center in Palm Springs or to charities such as F.I.N.D. in his memory.
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