Supercentenarian Profile

Janet Davis

Born:

1902-12-07

Fountain County, Indiana

United States

Died:

2013-08-23

Carmel, Indiana

United States

Janet Mura Davis was an American supercentenarian.

BIOGRAPHY

Janet Davis was born in Snoddy’s Mill in Fountain County, Indiana, on 7 December 1902. Her parents were James Monroe Davis (1864–1943) and Lena Iola Paschal (1872–1929). She had four siblings: Edith Lindley (1894–1960), Lee Van Davis (1896–1958), Genevieve Susan DeVore (1905–2000), and Helen Juanita Davis (1908–1998). She attended a one-room schoolhouse in Snoddy’s Mill that served grades one through eight. She and her siblings walked to school in the fall and spring, and during the winter months, when it snowed, they rode in a horse-drawn cart.

Janet graduated from the Indiana Common Schools on 7 June 1918, earning a certificate of proficiency in orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, English grammar, physiology, U.S. history, agriculture, domestic science, and music. She later received a diploma from Kingman High School on 28 April 1922. On 16 September 1925, Janet earned her nursing diploma from the Methodist Episcopal Hospital and Deaconess Home, also known as the Methodist Hospital School for Nurses. She received her registered nursing license on 9 June 1926. During her studies, Janet lived at the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing.

During her career, she worked as a nurse at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, eventually attaining the position of Director of Nurses. Throughout these years, Janet attended professional conferences in Boston, New York, Atlanta, and other major American cities.

After retiring, Janet traveled extensively abroad, visiting the Netherlands, Germany, England, Switzerland, Greece, Liechtenstein, Italy, Turkey, and Israel. She toured the Holy Land in depth, including Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Emmaus, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Samaria, the Garden of Gethsemane, Corinth, and Bethlehem. She also traveled throughout the United States with her sisters, Helen and Jerry, visiting Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Janet was an active member of Bellaire United Methodist Church and served as church secretary-treasurer from 1972 until her retirement from that role in 2004, at the age of 102. She lived independently at Marcy Lane Village Apartments from 1951 until November 2005, when, at age 103, she moved to Carmel Manor.

Janet Davis passed away at Carmel Health & Living Center in Carmel, Indiana, on 23 August 2013, at the age of 110 years, 259 days.