Notes for MARION GENEVIEVE DAY DAVIES:

Daughter of Charles and Ida (Passage) Day.
Born: August 7, 1898 on her Parents' farm, North Pembroke, Genesee County, New York.
Died: October 27, 1991 in San Diego, San Diego County, California.
Buried: Ashes scattered over Bear Flat, Mogollon County, Arizona.
Married: Griffith Van Velsor Davies December 8, 1921 in Unknown.

Marion Genevieve Day was born at home on her parents' farm in North Pembroke, New York. She was diminutive and full of grit and spunk. She had a sister Esther Aileen, and two brothers, Harold Emery and Louis Henry. Marion was a 1916 graduate and the top student at East Pembroke High School. She studied at New York State Teachers College in Geneseo, New York, while still living at home. She earned her degree on June 25, 1918 and took her first job in Margaretville, New York in the Catskill Mountains teaching high school algebra, 7th and 8th grade drawing and coaching girls' basketball.

Marion and her fiancee, Griffith Van Veslor Davies, met when she had a room at his parents' home when she taught school in Roselle, New Jersey. She and Griffith courted often by canoeing on the Tanawanda creek near East Pembroke and were married on December 8, 1921. The newlyweds spent a period of time in Tampico, Mexico where he worked at a Standard Oil facility during the 1920's.

After only a little over seven years of marriage, Griffith was killed in an automobile accident in the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania. Griffith's brother "Spitz" came down from Plattsburgh and helped Marion gather her daughters together and the three of them moved in with her husband's parents, who lived in a large 3-story house at 606 Chestnut Street, Roselle, New Jersey. Josephine and Patricia grew up in their paternal grandparents' household. Jo and Pat often visited their Uncle "Spitz" and Aunt Mary at their cottage on Lake Champlain near Pattsburgh, New York. It was a great get-away from the heat and humidity of New Jersey, and a great way to see their favorite uncle.

After Marion's husband died, she took a year to earn her degree at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She majored in mathematics and was Rutgers' first woman graduate. She taught mathematics and was the head of the mathematics department at Roselle High School for twenty years. Marion also completed her Masters Degree in Education from Columbia University Teachers College in New York City studying evenings and two summers. One of her teachers at Columbia University helped her obtain a job teach high school mathematics at Glendale Senior High School in Glendale, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix), in 1944. There Marion bought some acreage east of Payson, Arizona surrounded by the Tonto National Forest. She built herself a home, spending her summers at Bear Flat and her falls, winters and springs in Glendale for decades.

Over the years, many members of her family, including her sister Esther, would follow Marion's example and move to Arizona. Grandmother Davies was generous of spirit, yet remarkably frugal. When she passed away, she had become somewhat wealthy. Her favorite things were to travel and play contract bridge. Her biggest trip was around the world in 1970 where she stopped in Germany to see Passion Play at Oberamagua.

Marion also took an around the world tour in 1980. Other places she visited included an extended tour of South America, Antarctica, the South Seas, Africa, Alaska, Findhorn (Scotland), and all over the western United States. She enjoyed hiking, bird-watching, gardening, crocheting, reading and improving her two homes. Her favorite saying was "This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in it."