Remembering Doris K. Davis Doris Kathryn Davis lived a long and fruitful life blessing and being blessed by thousands of family, friends, students, and people far and wide along the way. She was born at St. Luke's Hospital in Tokyo, Japan on December 6, 1919. Doris was the daughter of Henry Howard Wagner and Gladys Lucile Koger Wagner, who were missionaries for the Free Methodist Church. She passed away peacefully on October 14, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. Doris spent her first years on Awaji Island and attended the local kindergarten and was home schooled until her family moved across the bay to Kobe where she attended the Canadian Academy in Japan. As a child of ten she recalled attending an evening revival service at a Nazarene Church in Kyoto where she claimed salvation and turned her life over to Jesus Christ. She taught her younger brother, Buzz, to play tennis during their summers in Karuizawa and was active on her school's swim and dive team. When Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lindberg visited Japan, Buzz made sure to include his sister in his visit with these dignitaries. In 1935 when the winds of war were swirling in Japan the Wagner family returned to the United States where Doris graduated from Franklin High School in Highland Park, California. She spent the next four years working for several wealthy families in the San Marino area honing her cooking and entertaining skills to save money for college and to help support her family. Doris met Harrison R.S. Davis Jr. while attending Pasadena Nazarene College graduating with her BA in Music in 1947. They married on July 25, 1947 in Pasadena. Following their calling to become missionaries for the Church of the Nazarene, they spent time preparing to go to China and then Japan. In the summer of 1950, they made the five-day plane flight from L.A. to Tokyo on a DC8 traveling through Hawaii and Wake Island. Doris thrived being back in Japan and tackled the job of entertaining visitors and raising her family for the next 40 years. Most of this time was spent living in Oyamadai teaching piano and organ to the students at the Nazarene Seminary and later at Japan Christian Junior College in Yotsukaido. Doris was a friend to everyone she met and took great care in making sure everyone felt welcome in her home. Whether it was a visiting military friend on R&R, a church dignitary, a fisherman's family, or one of the families who worked in the Japanese Imperial Household, she treated everyone with the same kindness, grace, and generosity. She always served a first-class meal and plenty of storytelling to make their visits memorable. As a missionary kid herself, "Aunt Doris" made sure all the other missionary kids felt welcome in her home and played well with her children and the Japanese kids in the community. She often helped coach some of the other missionaries with their Japanese conversation skills as hers was learned as a child. She was also a "mom" to some of the seminary students who lived in the dorm or the helpers who lived in a room in her home. Doris kept in regular contact with friends and family back in the States with her informative letters penned with perfect handwriting that was often so microscopic in size that the reader needed a magnifying glass to read her kind words. The family only recently learned she had received recognition from the Canadian government for her perfect cursive writing skills when she was in the sixth grade. Doris loved her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and prayed for each daily. She is survived by David Harrison and Joni Davis, Paul Donald and Wren Davis, Stephen Charles and Francine Davis, and Carol Louise and Don Herth. Paul, Stephen, and Carol were each born in Tokyo. She also leaves behind 16 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren. Doris was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brother, a son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and great granddaughter. You are invited to join Doris's family for a celebration of life service at 2:00 PM on Saturday December 7, 2019 at Mercer-Adams Chapel with interment to follow in Bethany Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Memory of Doris K. Davis to eyeswideopenint.org Visitation Mercer-Adams Funeral Service Friday, December 06, 2019 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM 3925 North Asbury Avenue Bethany, Oklahoma 73008 Mrs. Davis' casket will be closed during the visitation. Funeral Service Mercer-Adams Chapel Saturday, December 07, 2019 2:00 PM 3925 N. Asbury Bethany, OK 73008