Mary McClenahan Davis, 90 well-earned years old, passed away on January 25, 2016. Mary was preceded in death by her true love and adoring husband of 60 years, Richard Davis, in 2013. Her unique life story is one of early tragedy, challenge, hope, perseverance, faith and endless love.Mary, a longtime resident of Indianapolis and founding member of the Church of the Saviour United Methodist Church, was born in Pittsburgh, PA on July 4th, 1925, the youngest child of Wallace Stewart and Neva Craig McClenahan. Her mother died from breast cancer at the age of 38, at the beginning of the Great Depression. Left with four children ranging from 4 to 11 years in age, and without work, her father had no choice but to place his children in an orphanage while he went west to work on national park construction with the CCC.Mary and her sister, Jean, stayed together at the orphanage throughout the Depression. Wallace found work back in Pittsburgh, married Margaret McCombs, and reunited with the children as a family. At the age of 18, Mary entered college on full scholarship; beginning at SMU in Dallas, then U. of Chicago, and finally to Butler University, earning her BA with a major in French. She moved to Chicago, began working, and took post graduate classes in the evenings, where she met a bright young man named Richard Davis. Mary and Dick were married on January 23, 1953 in Chicago. They moved to Davenport, IA, then Rockford, IL, and finally Indianapolis, having four children along the way – Susan, Craig, Tom, and Connie.Mary’s faith was based on public service, strong family bonds, and unconditional love, which created the foundation of her life. Mary and Dick were inseparable, and were tremendously active with their church outreach programs. They worked tirelessly for over a decade with Public Action in Correctional Efforts assisting soon-to-be paroled felons to reintegrate into society, and when statistics demonstrated the questionable merits of that program, they moved upstream hoping to solve the problem before it began, by providing safe havens for children through Habitat for Humanity. In later years Mary and Dick were very active helping young students learn to read.Mary is survived by her sister, Jean Bowman, her four children, Susan Davis Cowan (Morris), Craig Davis (Paula), Tom Davis (Debbie), and Connie Davis Oesch (Keven), twelve grandchildren, a new great granddaughter, and her close friend and caregiver, Kendra Kirk-Ford. Her ongoing message of unconditional love endures. A memorial service will be planned at a later date. For those wishing to honor Mary’s memory, the family requests that donations be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, PO Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014; www.michaeljfox.org.
