Stella Mae Davis, age 95, of Fernandina Beach passed away Tuesday afternoon, December 9, 2025 at her home.
Stella was born August 12, 1930 in Hilliard, FL to Mark Tomlinson and Millie Martha Carroll.
Stella married Hilliard native, Virgil C Davis, December 16th, 1950. The newlyweds initially lived in a rooming house on Atlantic Avenue in Fernandina Beach and eventually moved into their permanent home where Stella was able to remain until she passed. They had three children she loved, cared for and enjoyed with all her heart. Her children remember her as a very kind and loving mother with a playful spirit. She always made them laugh and filled their lives with so many delightful memories and stories.
Stella loved her grandchildren and spent many hours playing ball with them and entertaining them in different ways. She loved her brothers and sisters and they remained in her heart and mind. As she lost her short term memory, she still remembered her siblings and often asked and talked about them.
Stella is remembered for her love of cooking and how she always wanted to send food home with anyone that visited. She is especially remembered for her holiday divinity.
Stella loved all children and would light up at the sight of a small child. Children always took to her. She seemed to share a childlike nature with them.
Stella loved and thrived in the outdoors, gardening and working in her yard. Anything she planted grew and blossomed. In the fall, she would rake every pecan and maple leaf.
Stella loved all animals, especially her beloved Dachshund, Susie, and her Pomeranian, TC and her granddog, Bailey. She also dearly loved her cat, Whiskers, who adopted Stella and Virgil. She stole their hearts and became the queen, outdoors and indoors. She mellowed them in so many ways.
In recent years, Stella enjoyed rocking on her back porch, bird and squirrel watching, and singing with her family and caregivers. She especially enjoyed the many, many hours her grandson, Brian, sat outside with her talking and singing with her. Their laughter could often be heard by the neighbors.
Stella now resides in heaven with loved ones who went before her, surrounded by the glory of the nature she loved. She rests in the arms of God, who blessed her in so many ways on earth and now beyond imagination. She was so deeply loved and will be missed very much.
In addition to her husband and parents, Stella was preceded in death by her son, Larry; three sisters, NellieTomlinson, Eva Vanzant, Mildred Freeman and a brother, Frank Tomlinson.
Stella leaves behind her children, Troy Davis (Gayle), Linda Powell (Andy); her daughter-in-law, Debbie; three sisters, Lillian Freeman, Ruby Carter (Carlos), Delaine Tuggle and one brother, Robert Tomlinson (Jean); five grandchildren, Christopher Davis, Brian Davis, Dana Severidt, Matthew Davis (Sarah), and Kyle Davis; seven great grandchildren, Katelyn, Gehrig, Ethan, Madison, Walker, Ansley, and Stella; many beloved nephews and nieces.
She also leaves behind her three caregivers who cared for her like angels, Anita Richo, Semoria Charles, and LaToya Bowman. The family is eternally grateful for how they cared for their mother, but most of all, how they loved her.
A Celebration of Life will be held Monday, December 15th, in the Burgess Chapel of Oxley Heard Funeral Directors beginning at 12:00 PM The family will receive friends beginning at 11:00 AM until the hour of the service.
She will be laid to rest next to her husband at Bosque Bello Cemetery.
A reception will follow at Calvary Baptist Church Fellowship Hall on Bailey Road.