Ruth Alice Borland Davis , age 96, died peacefully and surrounded by family on February 19, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. Funeral Services are scheduled for 2:00 P.M. Thursday, February 21, 2019 at the Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Chapel at Leonard. Rev. Scott and Reagan Gilland of the Lovers Lane Methodist Church in Dallas will officiate. Burial will be in the Leonard Cemetery.

Mrs. Davis was born in Christiana, Pennsylvania on September 26, 1922 to William Hamilton Borland and Mary Emma Bonsall Borland. After graduating as the salutatorian of her high school class, she attended Lancaster General Nursing School and received the Florence Nightingale Award. She then enlisted in the US Navy Nurse Corps where she taught Nursing Arts for two years during World War II. She was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant (junior grade).

While serving in the Navy Nurse Corps in Portsmouth, Virginia, she met James Walter Davis on a Valentine’s Day blind date. They were wed on August 4, 1945 and were married for 56 years. After Jim completed medical school, the Davises moved to Leonard, Texas and spent many happy years there. Ruth taught Sunday School for over 30 years and was a longtime member of Leonard’s 1921 Literary Club. She was also an avid gardener and was famous for her baked goods. Ruth and Jim retired to his hometown of Paris, Illinois in 1986 where they remained until they relocated in Greenville, Texas in 1993. After the death of her husband in 2002, Ruth moved to Dallas, Texas.

Ruth was predeceased by her husband, Dr. James Walter Davis, her son, William Borland Davis, and daughter, Elizabeth Brooks Davis. Her siblings John Borland, Martha Borland DiGiamberdini, Mary Borland, William Borland, Dorothy Borland, Hilda Borland Williams, and Frances Borland Rupert also preceded her in death. Ruth is survived by her brother, Walter Borland (Bette); her sons, Col. James Walter Davis, Jr, USMC Retired (Susan) and Joseph Redmon Davis (Rondi); her grandchildren Meredith Davis Mulhern (Thomas), Genevieve Davis, and Alice Davis; and great-grandchildren Evelyn Mulhern and Thomas Mulhern.

Memorials may be made to the Bill Davis Scholarship Fund at the Leonard High School.