Elda Davis, who left war-torn Europe to build a life in Philadelphia, dies at 91

Elda Davis, 91, who came to the United States with her GI husband from central Europe in 1954 and built a life and a family in Philadelphia, died Wednesday, Feb. 3, of Alzheimer’s disease at Cathedral Village in Roxborough.

A new wife and soon-to-be mother who could not speak English and would forever be lovingly tethered to her rural village near the Adriatic Sea, Mrs. Davis made a fulfilling life for herself and her family in West Mount Airy and then Chestnut Hill.

She learned English, raised two sons and a daughter, ate from a bountiful garden, grew old with the love of her life, and gave out hugs as if they were gumdrops.

“She loved people,” said her daughter, Miriam Lally. “She was a warm, friendly person. And the way she came here, to change her life like that, it was courageous.”

Mrs. Davis was born in 1930 to an ethnically Slovenian family and raised in northeast Italy. She was 14 when she was driven from her village, near Trieste, as fighting raged during World War II. One of four children, she was separated from her family for a time, and talked later of haunting memories of the horrors she witnessed. She spoke out against war for the rest of her life.

Mrs. Davis was 23 and working in a local restaurant in Italy when she met James Davis, a U.S. Army soldier from North Jersey.

They wed in Italy in 1954, and she came home with him to the United States — part of a wave of tens of thousands of women who married U.S. servicemen they met overseas and became known as GI brides. The Davises settled in West Mount Airy after he became a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She gave birth to sons David and Daniel, and then Miriam.

Mrs. Davis was an active mother and wife there for more than three decades. Her favorite things were cooking, gardening, and socializing. So she did them all at once. She’d often linger in her garden, searching for the right vegetable for dinner while keeping an eye out for neighbors to chat.

She loved to talk and tell stories, and “despite her thick, heavy accent she made friends with everyone she came across,” her family wrote in a tribute. Like many mothers, she didn’t like it when her sons grew their hair too long, and one of her favorite birthday presents was when Daniel got his trimmed just for her.

Mrs. Davis made sure the kids knew all the neighbors. She was friendly, and preached honesty and trust. She loved coupons, and sometimes used them even when she didn’t need the product. She hated junk mail, and sometimes returned the prepaid envelopes filled with other junk mail and actual junk. She sewed, and always recycled her paper, long before everyone else.

Mrs. Davis could speak English, Slovenian, and Italian. She taught her children Slovenian and asked them to speak it with her. The family, encouraged by her husband, traveled back to Italy often to visit family and friends, and the children soaked up the multicultural experiences.

Mrs. Davis and her husband moved to Chestnut Hill in 1995, and then to Cathedral Village a few years ago. She was interested in politics and became a U.S. citizen in 1994. Her husband died in 2016, and her daughter said they all talked often of how grateful they were that she met him.

“They had an eternal love,” her daughter said.

A private service was held Feb. 13.

In addition to her children, Mrs. Davis is survived by six grandchildren and other relatives.

Donations in her name may be made to the Arthritis Foundation, 1355 Peachtree St. NE Suite 600, Atlanta, Ga. 30309.