Dorothy Davis

Dorothy Davis, 99, of Gilman, Iowa, passed away on the morning of July 27, 2023 at the Iowa Veteran’s Home in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Services for Dorothy will be held on Monday, July 31, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home. A visitation for family and friends will be held one hour prior to services. Those in attendance are encouraged to come dressed in casual attire. Memorials in Dorothy’s name may be made to the family for a later designation. For additional information or to send a condolence to the family please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234.

Dorothy Jane Thibadeau was born August 25,1923 to parents Donald and Cora (Taylor) Thibadeau in Earlville, Iowa. She was the middle child of seven in the family and grew up in the surrounding Earlville area. Dorothy graduated from Lamont High School.

Following her education, she served in the United States Navy from August 1943 to September 1945. During her time in the service, she was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois and served as a pharmacist third class and hospital apprentice first class. While on a break from her service she was united in marriage to the love of her life Darrell Davis in Manchester, Iowa. They had both finished their services with the armed forces and were both honorably discharged from service.

After they were out of the service, they had started out their first couple years of marriage in Cedar Rapids and then later moved to Belle Plaine in 1947 where they resided until 1955 when they called Gilman their permanent home. Together they raised five children together. Dorothy worked as a waitress in the Marshalltown area notably working at the Round Table Supper Club and Cecil’s Café from which she retired.

She was active within her community belonging to the United Methodist Church in Gilman, the friends of the library, and volunteered time at the Gilman library and over 3,400 hours at the Iowa Veteran’s Home which she was later call home to herself in life. She was additionally a member of the Legion Auxiliary Woman and the American Legion.

In her free time, she loved to spend time camping with her family at Shady Hills in Tama, Iowa, taking summer trips to Minnesota to go fishing, visiting her siblings in Arizona, tending to her flower gardens, running the ice cream cottage in Gilman, spending time with her grandchildren, working on ceramics, knitting, sewing, reading, and needle work. She enjoyed being the head of the church ice cream socials and making the potato salad.

She is survived by her children, Michael (Alice) Davis, Marsha (Ray) Haney, and Sally (Dale) Gallentine; her grandchildren, Melissa (Chad) Vanherwig, Amy Davis, Sara (Troy) Tuttle, Curtis Wilson, Jeff Davis Jr., Terry Davis, Dustin (Andrea) Haney, Michael (Sara) Gallentine, Matthew (Samantha) Gallentine, Marc (Mandy) Gallentine, and Mitch (Michelle) Gallentine; 30 great-grandchildren, 8 great-great grandchildren; her sister, Betty Cavanaugh; several nieces and nephews and a foreign exchange student friend Maria Inez Alves Romas.

She is preceded in death by her husband Darrell; her children Jeff Davis Sr. and Nancy Wilson; her grandson Raymond Haney; her parents Donald and Cora Thibadeau; and her siblings Leola Hines, Lyda Hines, Cora Mea Spitler, Floyd Thibedeau and Donald Thibedeau.