Marguerite Davis
Jerseyville |
Marguerite Lois (Hoffman) Davis, 89, died peacefully in her sleep at 9:50 a.m. on Monday, December 22, at her home in Jerseyville.
Born May 17, 1925, in St. Paul, Minnesota, she was the daughter of Ben and Martha (Rosenwinkle) Hoffman. Her family moved to Gary, Indiana, in the 1930's as her father looked for work during the Depression.
Marguerite graduated from William Wirt High School in 1942. She attended Gary Junior College night classes 1942 through 1944. During World War II she worked at the U.S. Steel mill in Gary, first as secretary in the Blast Furnace Maintenance area, then in the rocket line.
She attended University of Illinois from 1945 to 1947 and graduated with a Bachelor's degree with Honors in Music Education, June 1947. She met her future husband in the Busey Hall dormitory kitchen where he worked as a waiter and she was the butter-cutter.
She married Claude J. Davis on September 4, 1948. Together they raised four children: Susan (Stephen) Davis, of Laurel, Md., Priscilla Rains, of Bunker Hill, Ill., Claude (Margaret) Davis, of Mesquite, Tex., and John (Julia) Davis, of Burlington, Vt.
Marguerite worked as a substitute teacher for the Jersey Community School District for many years. During the 1960's she took classes in library science and became the Jerseyville Community High School librarian in 1970, retiring in 1985.
A life-long musician, Marguerite played viola with the Alton Symphony Orchestra for 56 years. She also served on the board of the Jerseyville Public Library for 50 years. She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and PEO.
In addition to her four children, she is survived by grandchildren: Joshua (Amy) Davis, Jerseyville, Brooke (Danny) Divver, Columbia, Md., Sarah Davis (St. Louis), James (Sarah) Rains, Rochester, Minn., Rachael (Matt) Honnen, Hartford, Ill., Ana Ochoa, San Antonio, Tex., Alexandria (Eric) Shearer, Mesquite, Tex., Ashton (Jason) Esparza, Mesquite, Tex., Eva Paradiso, Burlington, Vt., and Theodore Davis, Burlington, Vt., and 13 great-grandchildren.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, her sister, Doris Tuerff, her brother, Ben Hoffman, and a son-in-law, James Rains.
Visitation will be at the First Presbyterian Church in Jerseyville, Ill., on Saturday, Dec. 27, from 11 a.m until 1 p.m., with a Celebration of Life service to follow immediately at the church. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery in Jerseyville. The Reverend Donald Stribling will be officiating.
Memorials may be made to the Jerseyville Public Library, the Alton Symphony Orchestra, the First Presbyterian Church in Jerseyville, or the Blessings Hospice in Carrollton, Ill.
Arrangements are being handled by the Alexander Gubser Funeral Home in Jerseyville, Ill.
Alexander Funeral Home
