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Jesse Edward Davis was born on Jan. 7, 1929, in Lovell, Wyoming, to Jess Wells Davis Jr. and Alpha Edna Egbert Davis. Everyone knew him as Ed or Eddie.
He was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as ward clerk, and as priesthood pianist. Ed’s testimony and family were very important to him.
When Ed was young, the family lived in Grass Creek, Wyoming, for a few years before finally settling in Byron, Wyoming. His father, Jess, was an oilfield worker. His mother, Alpha, was a housewife, carpenter and seamstress. His parents built their house out of an old wooden grainery and an old gas station that they put together.
A few years later, Shirley Ann was born. Ed loved his baby sister, and they were best friends throughout their lives.
Ed’s younger years were fairly uneventful. Ed was a model son who was relatively shy.
However, he did recall that he used to throw rocks at girls when he was 5 years old, and he later regretted that!
He took a few piano lessons, but for the most part taught himself how to play. And play he did. One of his favorite things to do was to sit at the piano and play and compose music. However, playing in public was something that he didn’t really like to do.
He attended elementary and high school in Byron, graduating in 1948. He was a lifelong proud Byron Eagle, and later a huge Rocky Mountain Grizz fan.
Somewhere along the way, Ed developed a love for plants and flowers and studied botany and horticulture at Northwest College in Powell. He also took courses in accounting.
After college, he started “Eddie’s Greenhouse” in Byron. He also was bookkeeper for the Penrose Cemetery District for several years.
Ed was a selfless person who doted on his sister Shirley, and his nieces and nephews. He looked after his mother after his father passed away.
He loved football and basketball and about any other kind of sport and was a familiar face at the home ball games.
Ed, a confirmed bachelor, was bitten by the love bug at the age of 46 when he met a widow, Geraldine “Gerry” Brinkerhoff. He took a leap of faith, and they were married in Salt Lake City on April 1, 1975. He also inherited five stepchildren, including a teenage daughter! That family unit grew and is still growing, now with 20 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Ed loved all as his own.
Slowly, Ed was phasing out the greenhouse, which had been a lifetime love of plants and a career. Gerry and Ed started working at Rocky Mountain High School as custodians and became familiar faces there from 1978 until 1991 when they “officially” retired and were able to enjoy and help raise their grandchildren.
Gerry’s health failed, and she passed away on Oct. 24, 2005. Ed and Gerry enjoyed 30 years together.
Ed spent time looking after his aging mother and was never far away from her in her bonus years. He was able to also spend time with his widowed sister Shirley. However, fate struck again and Ed was introduced to the next love of his life, Dorothy “Dot” Miller. They were married on March 17, 2010, and spent the next several years enjoying home life, family, and going on long drives.
With Dot, he inherited four more adult children, and so far, 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
Dot’s health began to decline, and she moved to New Horizons Care Center, and Ed, once again alone decided that he might as well move there too. Dorothy passed away on July 26, 2019. Ed and Dot were companions for over nine years.
He was a favorite resident of New Horizons and often entertained the staff and residents with beautiful piano music and good conversation. Ed was truly one of a kind.
His baby sister Shirley joined him at New Horizons Care Center for a couple of years and Ed was determined to be there for his sister. He said that was the one last goal that he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime — be there until she no longer needed him. Shirley passed away in the spring of 2022.
Ed’s personal and spiritual goals had come to pass. He passed away peacefully at New Horizons on Aug. 15, 2022, at the age of 93.
