Victor Allen Davis,, Sr.

Victor Allen Davis, Sr., 91, died peacefully at home in Merriam, Kansas on October 23, 2010.

Victor was born November 28, 1918, in the Rosedale area of Kansas City, Kansas, the third child of Carl and Myrtle Davis. The family moved to Merriam, Kansas, in 1934 and Vic graduated from Shawnee Mission Rural High School in 1936. Vic went to San Diego, California, in 1940 to work as a riveter for Consolidated Aircraft. In 1942 his sweetheart, Polly Jean Porterfield of Kansas City, Missouri, joined him and they were married in Ocean Beach, California.

Both Vic and Polly worked at Consolidated in the early years of World War II. About eighteen months before V.E. Day, Vic joined the Navy and was stationed at Alameda, California, for the balance of the war. He served in the Naval Reserves at Olathe Naval Air Station until after the Korean War.

After World War II, he returned to Kansas City and went to work with his father and older brother, Les Davis, at C.W. Davis & Sons Auto Body Shop at 124 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. They were later joined by Donald Curry, their brother-in-law. Vic's father started the business in 1918, and Vic and Les both retired and closed the business in 1977 after nearly 60 years of continuous operation.

Victor is survived by three sons, Vic Jr., Bruce and Dan, and their wives Joy, Laura and Marcia. Vic and Polly have four grandchildren, Melissa, Aimee, Colin, and Crisanda, and four great-grandchildren, AJ, Sam, Leah, and Alyssa.

Vic and Polly are members of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Overland Park, Kansas. Vic was an avid bird hunter, bowler, golfer and gardener. He survived his parents and all four of his siblings - Les, Glenna, Roy and Carl. Polly, Vic's wife of 68 years, lives at their home in Merriam, Kansas.

Memorials may be sent in Vic's honor to:

Odyssey VistaCare Hospice Foundation

717 N. Harwood, Suite 1500

Dallas, Texas 75201

or

St. Mark's United Methodist Church

6422 Santa Fe Drive

Overland Park, Kansas 66202

or

Smithsonian Institution

www.si.edu/giving

Visitation and Funeral Service

Visitation will be 6-8:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 26, 2010, at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. Funeral Services will be 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at the chapel with burial to follow in Shawnee Mission Memory Gardens, Kansas.