Marjorie Fenton ’51 Davis
Marjorie Jean (Fenton) Davis, 94 years of age, passed on from this world suddenly on Thursday, January 4, 2024.
Marjorie lived a long and diverse life. She was born in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada on November 24, 1929, where her father worked as an engineer in the nickel mines in that area. Her family moved to central Texas as her father and mother pursued their careers.
Marge earned her B.A. in English from Hope College in Holland, MI after completing two years of studies at Temple Junior College in Temple, TX. She became a teacher in Flint back when it was still a boomtown – Flint actually paid the best of all school systems in Michigan at the time! Her social outlets were mainly through her school, church and the UCF, the multi-county United Christian Fellowship, where she was to meet her future spouse, Judson S. Davis.
Through 58 years of married life, the couple raised four children, traveled extensively, and worked together in several shared passions such as advocacy for the intellectually disabled, genealogy and historical preservation. Marjorie self-published several books, including a history of the Davis and Erwin Families and the village of Davisburg, Michigan due to the family connections there. She also self-published histories on a range of topics including Great Lakes Lighthouses, Great Lakes D&C Steamships, the funeral business in 1930’s Detroit, and a history of the Davison United Methodist Church.
She was a long-time volunteer with the Sloan Museum in Flint, the Bay View Archives, and the Bay View Historical Museum. Marge is remembered for her tremendous patience, a quality so important when rearing children with one having special needs. She demonstrated and thus instilled values of honesty, fairness, soft-spoken firmness, and tenacity in all of us. Her complete devotion to Patty led her to have the courage to refuse institutionalization early on and raise her within our family setting, ultimately imparting all of the skills needed to live independently, which has been Patty’s way for decades with the help of QLS (see below). All of this has been a source of deep inspiration to all who knew mom. Some of her many other interests included quilting, archiving, writing, sailing, choral singing and immersing in the summertime lectures and music festival of Bay View, MI.
She is survived by her four children, Edward S. (Joan) Davis, Patricia L. Davis, Matthew F. Davis, and Elizabeth A. Davis ’84; granddaughter, Ariana E. Davis; niece, Alicia Fenton; nephews, John Fenton and Steven Davis. She was preceded in death by her husband, Judson; father, Clyde H. Fenton; mother, Louise Brusse Fenton; and her brother, Robert Fenton. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Marjorie’s name to support Quality Living Systems (QLS) in Flint which works to enhance the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities through advocacy, belonging, care and supported independent living at: P.O. Box 7029, Flint, MI 48507 and at: qlscares.org. Please share your thoughts with the family at www.allenfuneralhomeinc.com