Joanne K. Davis

On Thursday, May 1, 2025, Joanne K. Davis passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was born in Auburn, New York, on June 11, 1943, the daughter of William and Mary Kanalley. The eldest in an Irish Catholic family, Joannie played a central role in raising her younger siblings, and her own childhood was blessed by the loving attention of her aunts and grandmothers. She attended SUNY Cortland and earned a degree in education. In 1965, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she worked as an elementary school teacher. Shortly thereafter, Joannie married Bill Davis, a medical student. The couple eventually settled down to start their own family in rural Maine. In 1983, the family moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Three years later, she earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work at Marywood University and then spent over two decades as a children’s therapist at Tri-County Mental Health Center in Honesdale.

 

Joannie understood the imagination and magic in children’s literature and loved reading bedtime stories to her children and grandchildren. She was also a wonderful cook. One of the ways she expressed her love was through her thought and care in preparing daily meals and holiday feasts for her family.

 

Joannie’s love of adventure and openness to the world was a sensibility she shared with her husband, Bill. Together, they enjoyed adventures small and large. In retirement, she spent extended time during the winter in Oaxaca, Mexico, and enjoyed summers at her family’s cottage on Starlight Lake. When she could no longer travel, Joannie continued her voracious reading of mystery novels and remained an avid reader through the final month of her life.

 

Joannie’s life ended after ten years of living with ocular melanoma. Her soul, spirit, and joie de vivre are finally freed. She is survived by her husband, Dr. William F. Davis, and three children, Eliza (Jed) Alexander, Eleanor (Gregg) Bevan, and Llewellyn (Alpa) Davis; and five treasured grandchildren, Eva, Liam, Sam, Lucas, and Louisa. She was sister to Katy Bolduc, Betsy Kanalley, Michael Kanalley, William Kanalley, and the late Elizabeth Kanalley, and she leaves behind many loved nieces, nephews, and extended family.

 

Relatives and friends are invited to Joannie’s Memorial Service, Friday, May 30, at 11:00 a.m. at the Woodside Mission House in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Donations in Joannie’s memory may be made to her favorite radio station, WJFF-Radio Catskill.