| Honored by: | Lee Anne Willson |
| Brick location: | G:24 map |
b. April 16, 1921 in Seattle, Washington to Augusta Bright Davis and C. Edwin Davis. Middle child; older sister Augusta (“ Dusty") and younger brother Edwin (“Ed “).
m. Nov. 30, 1942 Wendell A. Mordy. Children Lee Anne Mordy (Willson) b. March 14, 1947 and Ruth Bright Mordy (Friedlander) b. July 9, 1949.
d. December 3, 2017, St Paul MN.
Statement written by daughter Lee Anne Willson, 4/94:
“She is of the generation forged in the fire of the Second World War. She started graduate studies in anthropology at Columbia University, and then returned to California to marry. Married two months before my father was sent overseas for two years, she returned to graduate study (at the University of Chicago) where she became involved in labor relations through a research project. When Dad returned from the war she again left her graduate studies to follow him, first to Berkeley and then to Hawaii where my sister and I were born. While we were small she found time to be an active member of the League of Women Voters as well as again taking graduate work.
In 1953 the entire family took a 6-month long trip around the world visiting many places where blond children were a novelty. Taking such a trip with a six and a four-year-old in the days before passenger jets required courage and organization, but I don't remember detecting strain.
Moving the family to Sweden in 1956 interrupted her graduate studies again, but with characteristic spirit she put her energy into making the adjustment to a new language and culture a smooth one for the family.
After returning to the US in 1960, she completed her master's degree in anthropology at the University of Nevada, about the time her daughters finished college and began graduate study. The academic degree was never her main focus, however, nor was the work she did that built on that background. Rather, her choice has always been to provide support and structure for others. When Dad's career required a sequence of major moves, she quietly and effectively coped. She found ways to reach out, in each community, to groups and individuals where she could help, as well as to make friends and pursue intellectual interests.
Her quiet strength formed a core of security and calm in our house. It is a kind of strength that one does not appreciate as a child, and it was only after I was grown and gone that I began to be able to see and appreciate my mother's strength, courage, and intelligence as well as her ability to be effective while remaining gentle in dealing with other people.
For her exemplary qualities and her fine character we honor her.”
Submitted on 7/1/96