Leland Davis

The Lee Davis Family

Lee and Rosalie were high school graduates of Windsor, a small farming community in East Central Illinois. Following World War II, they both attended Eastern Illinois University and were married in 1948. From 1949 to 1956, Lee was a high school teacher/coach in Findlay, Illinois. In 1956, with Shelley and Scott in the back seat, they moved to Northern Illinois. There, Lee went into administration as high school principal in LaFayette and Wyoming. Seven years later in 1963, with the addition of Gail, the family left for Ernest Harmon AFB in Newfoundland. They drove a station wagon pulling a trailer with everything they owned. After three years as an elementary principal, Lee and family knew they were hooked on a new and more exciting lifestyle. They would have stayed longer, but the base was closed in 1966.

Their first transfer was from DoD to DoE, when Lee became Assistant Superintendent at Ramey AFB in Puerto Rico. A great five years ensued. It was a good place to raise children. They were ready to become homeowners and hopefully retire from there, when word was received that the base was closing. By now Shelley and Scott had both graduated from high school. The time was perfect to make the transfer back to DoD and move to Europe.

Lee’s first assignment was as Principal of the Junior High School at Hahn AB, Germany. After a most enjoyable year, there was a transfer to Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg. The next eight years were special. Gail graduated in the Koenig’s Hall of the Heidelberg Castle. Scott did his student teaching at PHV, and Shelley and her husband, Jeff, lived with them while Jeff was doing his student teaching in Mannheim.

In 1980, with a household of only two again, there was another transfer, this time to Vicenza, Italy, where Lee was elementary principal. Without a doubt, Vicenza was Rosalie’s favorite location. In February 1982, they found themselves on the move again to Torrejon AB and the city of Madrid. Lee was selected Deputy Director for the Mediterranean Region. In 1987, and viewing retirement in the near future, they applied for, and received, a transfer to Okinawa. There, Lee was Chief of the Education Division for the Pacific Region. It just so happened that Scott and Shelley both lived there at the time. What a great opporunity, a transfer to the Orient, and living next to Shelley and her family and Scott!

Three years later, 1990, a goodbye was said to DoDDS after 27 years. We never had a bad assignment. DoDDS was great for our family. Scott and Shelley also went into DoDDS, and their children represent a third generation of the Davis family in DoDDS.

Prepared by Lee Davis, 2001