Kay (Stoner) Davis
Kay (Stoner) Davis
Mary Jo Bellner Swartzberg
Lying there in the hospital, she was still in a twilight stage when she saw two doctors standing at the foot of her bed. “We understand that you are a very tough lady,” one doctor said. Then it dawned on her that she had just emerged from abdominal surgery. I guess I am tough, remembering the family saying: The Stoners have the lives of nine cats.
Kay Davis was born in Chicago just prior to the start of World War II, which is a bit ironic as she would, much later, meet and marry a World War II tail gunner for a B17.
When she was 23 years old, she saw a young girl carrying a case with a ballerina on it. Kay was soon enrolled in a ballet class, where she quickly rose to the top of her class. At the early age of 13, she started en pointe, which refers to supporting one’s body weight on the tips of the toes while wearing ballet shoes.
In high school, Kay practiced ballet five days a week and often times became a “leader” in her class.
At 18, she performed the part of Odette in Swan Lake. Then, she was asked to tour with a troupe that performed a variety of dance forms; the troupe traveled throughout the Midwest for four months.
Eventually, she met and married Walter Davis, 13 years her senior. Walter was a former First Vice President of the LaSalle National Bank in Chicago.
They moved to Phoenix where Kay taught ballet and took lessons from “the best of the best” in the world of ballet. As examples, at the Phoenix School of Ballet, she had master classes with well-known international ballet dancers such as Kelly Brown of the Phoenix School of Ballet, Keith Martin of the Royal Ballet Company and Paul Koverman of the Philadelphia Ballet Company.
Kay and her husband moved to Scottsdale in 1978, and it was there that she met Twila Stern and Connie Atherton, former Rockettes. Twila asked Kay to perform with the Taptations, a professional tap dance group. This would eventually lead to a partnership with Connie to open a ballet/tap studio called The Conservatory of Dance.
Walter and Kay had a wonderful life, eventually having two boys, but the memories of World War II haunted Walter, who was twice shot down over Germany, becoming a POW, resulting in nightmares. Fortunately, Scottsdale helped to somewhat ameliorate his thoughts of the war.
Kay and Walter moved to SaddleBrooke in 1997, where Kay joined the Desert Stars, a tap/clog group. Walter passed away in 2000.
Kay is proud of her two sons, James Michael Davis, with the Vancouver, Washington State Police Department, and Peter Scott Davis, who is in the entertainment business. Kay’s significant other is Jack Crabb.
Kay continues to make progress after her health scare. She has resumed her golfing and exercising.
When a person says heat can melt butter and, at the same time, forge steel, that person is referring to Kay Stoner Davis! Indeed!