Huretta Clementine Joines was born Wednesday, October 29, 1913 on the family farm just southwest of Madisonville, Tennessee the first of seven daughters born to Charles Ross and Jessie Mae Ervin Joines. Named after her grandmother Joines she would be the only one of the girls to graduate with a degree from Hiwassee College and the first that we know of in the William Newton Joines family to achieve that level of education.

After college she moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee to make her mark on the world. She went to work at McClellan's in downtown Chattanooga where she eventually met her future husband Charlie K. Davis. the son of James Davis and Nellie Robbins. Charlie Davis was from Oakdale, Tennessee but had moved to Chattanooga to work. Over time he won her heart and they were married on November 26, 1936.

They set up housekeeping in an apartment on Vine Street in the downtown area. Later they would purchase a house in Red Bank, Tennessee, which is a suburb of Chattanooga. I remember her telling how she thought they were moving way out into the country when they moved to that house. (Red Bank is now completely surrounded by the city of Chattanooga.) While living there they would give birth to their only child, Nancy Jeanette Davis, and they would spend the remainder of their lives there until he passed away in 1992 and she in 2004. They were both laid to rest back in Madisonville, Tennessee.

Huretta was a formal person who always had to have a place for everything and everything in it's place. She always insisted on everything being clean and put away properly. She loved to have family around and loved to have fun and always insisted on purchasing the best of everything and taking good care of it which meant it would last forever.

So it was with her life...the rather small house they bought was built during WWII, when supplies were short and housing materials used were often the cheapest that could be purchased. However when Huretta took over that house and kept it clean and had a place for everything and everything in it's place she made it appear plenty large enough. Although she often would comment on how she would love to have more room they never indicated to me that they would ever want to live anyplace else.

Over time they made improvements and upgrades to the house...the old wood stove they used to heat with would be replaced first with electric heat and then with a heat pump which would both heat and cool the house. She made room for her nephews and nieces to come for visits and would have family gathering and cook delicious meals and everyone always enjoyed themselves at her house.

Later in life she had room for her grandnephew and grandniece who she and Charlie treated like their grandchildren.... and BTW they felt like grandchildren and the love went both ways. She and Charlie would be the ones to care for them whenever the need was there for them to be left with someone other than one of their parents. By the time the great-grandnieces came along Charlie had passed on but Huretta was able to spoil them for a time also. She seemed to love to be around them and they would sing for her...we all had fun together.

She spent a lot of her life caring for others including Charlie who was in ill health for a number of years and Nancy who inherited some health issues that she has to deal with. Caregiver, encourager and contributor to wisdom describe Huretta Clementine Joines Davis. She had a way of imparting words of wisdom and encouragement with love that stuck with you. We lost Huretta on December 22, 2004 at the age of 91 years. She passed away in Rockville, Maryland where Nancy had been caring for her as her health began to fail.

Charlie Kyle Davis was born April 14, 1912. He was a wonderful person and always made sure us kids had lots of fun. He was a great story teller and kept us on the edge of our seats as he spoke in the voices of the characters in the story and with great animation. He was quick to praise and encourage us in whatever we attempted to do. He devoted his life to his family and tried to see that his daughter had every advantage.

He had the ability to look at a situation and see what might go wrong with it and worry about it and he could take things very seriously. I remember him telling the story of a three or four inch snowfall when his daughter was about three or four years old. As he told it he had to go around to the back of the house for something and Nancy was following along behind him. As they walked through the snow she tugged at his coat and said, as she placed her small foot where her daddy had just stepped,"Look Daddy, I'm following in your footsteps!". He said when she said that a chill went over him.....would he be able to lead her in the right direction if she followed in his footsteps? I believe he always tried to walk the right walk to lead Nancy in the right direction!

I know when his grandnephew and grandniece were quite young after almost every visit to their house there would be little toys or parts of toys missing. After a while the parents begin to wonder what was going on. They later found that Charlie was worried that one of the children might swallow one of the small items and choke so when he would come across one he would quietly slip it into his pocket to keep it away from them. Today they send out "recalls" for such items found in toys so Charlie was a watchdog for their safety long before anyone else.

We lost Charlie on March 10, 1992 after a long illness. For a time he could no longer lie in bed and sleep so he had been sleeping in his recliner. Huretta awoke that Friday morning and was not able to arouse him. He had passed in his sleep quietly. He has been greatly missed.

 

There is more to come....