Avis de décès de Ralph Davis - Nécrologie - MesAieux.com

DAVIS -Funeral service for Ralph D. Davis, 85, of Canora, who died February 26 at Gateway Lodge, Canora, was held March 1 at St. George's Anglican Church, Canora, with Rev. Mark Moote officiating. Burial of cremains is to follow at a later date, with Leson's Funeral Home in care of arrangements. Born July 6, 1919 to Albert and Emily Davis in Mather, Man., he attended St. John's Anglican School in Winnipeg and received his Grade 12 diploma in Wawota, where his father was the Canadian Pacific Railway's station agent. In 1936, described by some to be the height of the Depression, at the age of 16, Ralph and his brother Chisholm, four years Ralph's senior, established The Citizen weekly newspaper in Kipling. In order to make ends meet, the fledgling publishers would often have to take firewood, eggs, chickens, potatoes and the like in lieu of the $1.50 annual subscription fee. For a time, they supplemented their income by candling eggs. On November 17, 1943, Ralph and Margaret Coffey, who was employed by a bank, were married at the Coffey family's farm near Kipling. In 1943, Chis moved to Canora, where the Davis brothers had purchased The Courier. Three years later, Chis moved to Kamsack, where the brothers had purchased The Times. A third brother, Harry, was copublisher of The Times. For a time in the 1940s, the Davis brothers published newspapers simultaneously in Kipling, Canora and Kamsack. Ralph and Margaret moved to Canora in 1945 where he was editor and publisher until 1960. Illness forced Ralph and Margaret to sell the businesses and he subsequently joined the news department of the Regina Leader-Post. In 1967, the Davis family returned to Canora and he was editor of The Courier until 1980 when illness again forced him to quit the business. His absence from newspapering was brief and he made weekly contributions in the form of news, photos and columns as soon as his health improved. At about the same time, he purchased his wife's health food store business, which she had started in 1976. He sold the store in 1997, his health again being a factor. Ralph was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Canora, formed in 1953; served for one term on Canora town council; was a founding member of the Canora United Appeal; served on the executive of the Canora Sterlings Junior B Hockey Club; was elected to the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association board of directors and served as its vice-president; supported the Hudson Bay Route Association, attended its conventions, and participated in an excursion to Churchill to tour the port facility; was a strong supporter of the Red Cross; sold mutual funds, and Rawleigh and Amway products to supplement his income; and was honoured by the Canadian Community Newspapers Association in February of 1992 when he was presented a Gold Quill award for 50 years of distinguished service to the community newspaper profession. Ralph continued to write a weekly column pertaining to Canora's history until about two years ago, at that point concluding a journalism career that had spanned approximately 67 years. He was admitted to Canora Hospital in September of 2004 and became a resident of Gateway lodge in November of 2004. Predeceased by his parents, Albert in 1956, Emily in 1975, and brothers Harry in 1956 and Chis in 2004, he is survived by his wife Margaret; four sons, Warren (Leanne) of Saskatoon, Randy of Calgary, Paul (Kim) of Saskatoon, and Michael (Diane) of Canora; a daughter, Mary Anne (Volle) Posa of Blackbutt, Australia; 13 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.