Ella Griffiths Davis

Norfolk- With her beloved cat Gladdy at her feet, and with Welsh choir music playing in the background, Ella Griffiths Davis, 90, formerly of Scranton, PA, died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, June 30, 2018, in her home in Norfolk, VA.

Ella was born June 26, 1928, to the late Sephora and Samuel Griffiths. She graduated from West Side High School in 1946. Introduced through a friend of her mother, Ella corresponded with David Davis, from Blakely, PA, for more than a year before they met. They were married on December 11, 1950. Dave’s Navy career took her to Virginia, where she soon became the mother of three children: Deborah Ann, David Richard, and Mark Alan Davis.

Dave’s Navy career took them to a mix of exotic locations: NAS Meridian, MS; USNB Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines; NAS Glynco, GA; and USNB Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. When her husband retired in 1970 after 24 years in the Navy, they returned to Norfolk, VA, to the house they’d built in 1957.

Ella worked for several years as a dental assistant to the late Dr. E. Michaels. After her retirement, she took the first of several trips to Wales with her niece Lois Ann Linko, and later with her daughter Deborah, and her grandsons, Owen, Kevin, and Andrew. She loved everything about Wales: the beauty of the countryside, the villages, and the friends she met there: Mike Davies and his wife Marie, their son Llywelyn, Mike’s mother, Monica Davies, and Paul Holland.

After raising her three children, Ella and Dave took on the task of raising two of her grandsons, Owen and Kevin. They were the lights of her life, and she enjoyed every minute she spent with them. She joyfully attended soccer practices and games, music rehearsals and concerts, field trips, and graduations. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for them. They kept her young.

Ella’s life of selflessness and giving continued at her church, Bay View United Church of Christ, over the course of seven decades. She served as a deacon and also moderator and member-at-large for church business meetings over the years. She was the leader of the Willing Hands Circle women’s group for many years and was a devoted and founding worker in the church’s biggest ministry, the Thrift Shop, where she spent nearly every Monday and Saturday mornings sorting donations which benefited the church.

Ella was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, David Davis, her parents, her siblings, and two of her three children. She is survived by her daughter, Deborah; her grandsons Owen, Kevin, and Andrew Davis; her niece, Lois Ann Linko of Mt. Cobb, PA; and her sister-in-law, Betty Rudolph of Blakely, PA.

The Davis family would like to thank special friends Jim and Edna Harrison for their support over more than 40 years. They have been such pillars of support during her last days. The family would also like to thank her primary caregiver, Rita Artis, for her strength and loving care.

As she wished, there will be no service for Ella. Cremation Society of Virginia is handling the details