Juanita Nancy Bryant Davis

Juanita Nancy Bryant Davis, 92, Lawrence, Kansas passed away on Thursday, April 6, 2023, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.  Nancy was born January 7, 1931, in Lakeland, Florida, the daughter of Jesse J Bryant and Virginia Nancy Sarvis Bryant.  She graduated from Lakeland High School in 1949, during which time was active in Student Council, Social & Recreational Board, Editor of the Baptist Student Union, and she worked for Dr. Johnson, a family physician.  After graduation, she attended the Medical University of South Carolina, College of Nursing, in Charleston, South Carolina, graduating in 1953. While attending school she met her future husband, Robert A Davis, who was stationed in Charleston aboard the hospital ship USS Consolation.  Upon graduating nursing school, she returned to Lakeland and was a RN at Morrell Hospital.  She was a member of the First Baptist Church, the Young Women’s Auxiliary and Teacher. She married the love of her life, Robert A Davis, on June 6, 1954 in Lakeland, FL.  They honeymooned across the states to Long Beach, California and she worked as an RN at Long Beach Memorial Hospital.  After Robert’s Navy tour ended, she continued her nursing career in Labor & Delivery at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. She was voted Employee of the Year in 1984, and retired Oct. 31, 1996, after 4 decades.

Nancy and Robert were blessed with five loving children, James Bryant, Melissa Ann, Nancy Elizabeth, Timothy Keith and Jeffrey Jerome.  She was a loving mother and supported her children in all of their many interests.  Along the way she volunteered at her children’s schools, Cottonwood 4-H Club, and the Boy and Girl Scouts.  Since 1955, she has been a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of Lawrence.  She was gifted at sewing, gardening, was a wonderful cook, an avid reader and a lover of animals.  Nancy loved music and learned to play church hymns on the piano while a member of the First Baptist Church of Lakeland.  She enjoyed going out to eat with friends and loved going to the Dine-A-Mite in the late 50’s and early 60’s when the edge of town was 23 ^rd and Louisiana.  She had a wonderful sense of humor, loved her Jayhawks and KC Chiefs, was well respected in the community and had many friends.  People would recognize her on the street or the grocery store as the nurse that was with them during the birth of their babies.

She is survived by her daughters Melissa Davis (Carolyn Plunkett), Lenexa, KS, Nancy “Beth” Davis, Lawrence, KS, sons Timothy Davis (Jess Barnett) Lawrence, KS, and Jeffrey Davis, who cared for her during the last several years of her life, grandchildren Katherine “Katie” Barnes (Amber Taylor), Brian Duane Davison (Jamie), Monica Renee Davison and many great-grandchildren.  Although many of her close friends have passed on, she still kept in touch with her nursing friend, Mayola Reeves, Fontanta, California, her cousin, Cynthia Betty Bryant Cone, Bradenton, Florida, her friend and hairstylist, Lannie Motelet, Lawrence, Kansas and David Davison, Lawrence, Kansas, her former son-in-law.

Nancy is preceded in death by her husband Robert A Davis and her son James Bryant Davis, her parents, and siblings Reverend Raymond K Bryant, Shirley Marie Broyles and Sandra Sue Bryant.

Memorial contributions may be made in Nancy’s name to the American Cancer Society or the Lawrence Humane Society.

Private graveside services will be held at Memorial Park Cemetery.