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Earl L. Davis died on April 1, 2015, at his home in Brookdale Churchill Assisted Living in Mooresville, NC. Earl was born in Wilton Junction, Iowa, on May 13, 1925, of the late Philip E. Davis and Elizabeth Crispin Davis. He was preceded in death in 2011 by his wife of 62 years, Francis Ruth Anderson, and earlier this year by his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Davis Rossi. He is survived by his son Philip and wife Linda, son Stephen and wife Elisabeth, all of Cornelius, NC; son-in-law Gilbert Rossi of Lawrenceville, NJ; nine grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren. Raised on farms in eastern Iowa, Earl graduated from the DeWitt (IA) consolidated high school and enlisted in the Navy from 1944 to 1946, working on early radar installations in Atlanta and Seattle. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State Teachers College (now Northern Iowa University) and did graduate studies at Iowa State University. In 1949, after a whirlwind romance, he married Frances Anderson of Rockford, Ill. Earl taught school for two years in Monticello, Iowa, then sold insurance, before joining the admission staff at Coe College (IA) in 1952. Except for brief interludes in sales for Cherry-Burrell Corporation and Ford tractors, his career in college admissions continued through 2014. He was Director of Admissions at Yankton College (SD), Associate Director at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon University), and Director at Coe College, Lindenwood College (MO), and Rider University (NJ), where he retired in 1988. Upon retirement, Earl and Fran moved to Chapel Hill, NC, and then, in 2004, to Cornelius, NC. While in Chapel Hill, he and Fran served as Regional Advisors for the Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators of the Carolinas. Earl continued to consult with various independent colleges and served as a reader of college applications, first at the UNC-Chapel Hill and then at Duke University. The family will receive friends on Friday, April 17, at Cavin-Cook Funeral Home, Mooresville, from 11 am to 1 pm. A memorial service will be held at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, NC, at 1 pm on April 18. In lieu of flowers, memorials are invited to University Presbyterian Church (209 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; www.upcch.org) or to WDAV (Box 8990, Davidson, NC 28035; www.wdav.org).

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Earl Lawrence Davis

May 13, 1925 - April 1, 2015