William "Bill" M. Davis

Age 76, passed away at home surrounded by his loving family on Thursday, June 6, 2013 following a lengthy, courageous battle with heart disease. Bill was born on February 3, 1937 in Corning to the late Clifford and Esler (Naylor) Davis. He was predeceased by his brothers, David, James, Nathan, Lester and Clifford. He is survived by his loving wife, Patricia (French) Davis whom he married on May 29, 1976 and just recently celebrated 37 years of marriage; children: daughters, Nancy (William) Blank of Wilmington, NC; Kimberly (Joel) Gerow of Campbell, NY; Dina {Knapp} (David) Watts and Danelle {Knapp} (Lindsay) Hakes all of Indianapolis, IN; sons, William (Jennifer) Davis Jr. of Bath, NY; Richard Knapp of Indianapolis, IN; his grandchildren, who loving called him Papa: Shawn (Brittany) Cosgrove, Zach Tucker, Amanda Gerow (Leroy VanNatta), Kayla Davis (Chad Cambra), Dylan and Gabrielle Davis, Alyssa Blank, Jessica and Jonathan Hakes, Brittney and Nicholas Watts; sister, Sylvia (Gary) Tetz of Twin Falls, Idaho; sister-in laws, Sheila Davis of Bad Axe, MI, Sharon (Dennis) Godwin of Elmira, NY; Judy (Thomas) Kiemeyer of Indianapolis, IN; brother-in-law, Randy French (Cindy Dennis) of Van Etten, NY; along with several nieces, nephews and cousins. Bill was employed at Ingersoll-Rand until 1965 when he became the owner and operator of Bill's Atlantic in Corning. In 1972 he started as a mechanic at Sears and retired as automotive sales manager after 22 years of dedicated service. He then worked for Corning Community College Auto Tech Facility in Elmira. Bill was an avid hunter and fisherman which he especially enjoyed doing with his son Bill. He also enjoyed camping, traveling, NASCAR and after retirement learned to enjoy golfing. He could fix anything and would tackle any home improvement project and do it to perfection. Bill was a member of the Elmira Elks Lodge # 62. Family and friends are invited to gather at the Olthof Funeral Home, Inc. 1050 Pennsylvania Ave. Elmira/Southport, NY on Sunday, June 9, 2013 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Funeral services honoring his life will be held there on Monday, June 10th at 11:00 AM. The Reverend Michael Weeden will celebrate Bill's services. Interment will follow in the Woodlawn Cemetery with Pastor Weeden offering the committal prayers. Our special thanks to the staff at Guthrie Clinic and the Robert Packer Hospital for the excellent care they gave to Bill over the last several years. Especially the girls in the infusion center, staff of interventional radiology, Dr. Deshmukh and most especially Dr. Matthew Novak, who helped so much the last several days and CRNP Mary Romanyshyn for the last three years of her regular visits and TLC! Bill's guestbook may be signed in obituaries at www.olthof.com