Kathleen L. Davis

Kathy was born on October 2, 1945, in Omer, MI, the first-born child of the late Fred “Fritz” and Sarah Lois Lockhart. She was raised in Oscoda, MI and was valedictorian of her class of 1963. Kathy received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Michigan State University in 1967 and 1971.

Kathy was an ardent Biology major who became a high school Biology teacher at Flint Central High School in 1967.

Kathy married William G. Davis, in Oscoda, in 1968 and taught Biology in Wyandotte, MI for 24 years. During her career teaching Biology and Environmental Science, she became an award-winning high school bowl coach competing regionally and nationally. Kathy sponsored overnight canoe trips on the Au Sable River for her students and initiated annual trips to the Toronto Canada Science Center and the Royal Ontario Museum. She also took students on many field trips to Isle Royal. Several of her students became biologists, teachers and lifelong friends.

Kathy was a proud environmental activist and feminist and was president of the Trenton, MI Democratic Club. She always sought equity for women and girls and believed in wildlife preservation of rare and endangered plants and animals.

Kathy retired to Marquette in 1997 and became active on the board for Planned Parenthood of Northern Michigan, AAUW where she was a fundraiser for the STEM Program, and the Marquette County Democratic Party where she was on the executive board for 23 years. She was also a member of the Laughing Whitefish Audubon in Marquette and the Sierra Club.

Kathy was very active in protecting the endangered piping plovers in Grand Marais, MI, where she and Bill have a summer home. Many Marquette birders and NMU students were recruited as volunteer or paid piping plover monitors.

Kathy was also progressive as a Nature Conservancy of Michigan Donor, where they used her and Bill’s Lake Superior Frontage in Grand Marais to hold conservation easements. Throughout her life, she was a naturalist who specialized in bog flora and Michigan wildflowers.

Kathy was an enthusiastic hiker and belonged to the North Country Trail Hikers where she spent a decade working on the North Country Trail in Alger County. She belonged to the Woodsies, a group of ten women who hike, bike, ski and kayak in the Central U.P. and who also held an annual blueberry camp. Kathy hiked in Chile and Argentina with Sierra Club outings. In March of 2020, she hiked on South Georgia Island as the oldest participant in the 6K “Shackleton Hike” across the mountains near Antarctica.

Kathy is survived by her husband, William G. Davis of Marquette; brother, Gerald B. (Sue) Lockhart of Saginaw, MI; nieces, Laura (Jason) Lockhart of Livonia, MI and Elizabeth (Bryan) Lockhart of Bradenton, FL; as well as her beloved golden retriever, Louise.

At Kathy’s request, cremation will take place and memorial services will be held in Marquette and Grand Marais in the summer of 2021.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Kathy’s name to Planned Parenthood of Michigan, AAUW STEM Project or UPAWs.

Canale-Tonella Funeral Home and Cremation Services is assisting Kathy’s family where memories and condolences may be shared at canalefuneral.com