Velma E. Davis

Velma E. Davis, age 88, passed away April 18, 2017. She was born in Brunswick, Georgia, on August 26, 1928. During high school she worked full time with the telephone company while maintaining an A average. She then attended Georgia State Women's College, graduating with an associate's degree. It was here during a mixer with Emory University she met the love of her life, Reynolds Davis, who was to become her husband in 1948. Together they traveled over the state of Florida performing diabetes testing until settling in Tampa. They bought a home and began raising their two young children when, tragically, Reynolds died of a sudden heart attack in 1956. She had to learn how to drive a car and find a way to support herself and her two children. Since she had gotten experience assisting her husband in his laboratory work, she was able to find a job as a medical technologist. In 1962 the young family moved to Ft. Pierce, and Velma worked for Dr. Scofield, commuting to Vero each day. In the mid 1960s she was hired to work at Scott Medical Laboratory in Ft. Pierce and was able to work close to home.

Velma was active in her beloved First United Methodist Church. She served as president of United Methodist Women and was a frequent volunteer in the church office, delivering altar flowers to shut ins and participating in many other vital church functions. She was a member for many years of the Garden Club of Ft. Pierce and spearheaded collections of blankets, linens, clothing, and other needed items for seniors at a local high rise; this effort was lovingly referred to as "Velma's Seniors" by other members of the club. She was president of the Gator Trace Homeowners Association. During the 1980s Velma obtained her real estate license and began to buy houses, fixing them up and renting or selling them. She became supervisor for Scott Lab during her 25 years of working there, and if you lived in Ft. Pierce during that time, sooner or later you were probably sent to the lab by your doctor and met Tom Scott and Mom and the rest of the staff there.

She is survived by her son Mike, his wife Paula and their two sons Tim and Andrew; her daughter Julie Cressler and her husband Jim; and longtime friend Tom Scott.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be used for the Velma's Seniors program. Donations may be made out to the Garden Club of Ft. Pierce and sent to 2002 Cypress Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. A memorial service will be held at The Lynmoore of Lawnwood, 1550 N. Lawnwood Circle, at 1 pm on Saturday, April 22, 2017.