Phyllis Ann Davis

Phyllis was born May 14, 1934 in Bradish, Nebraska, the daughter of Calvin and Sigrid Pratt. She grew up in Bristow along with her two siblings Tom and Alice on a farm raising livestock, riding horses and going to school in a one room schoolhouse. At 14 she went to Omaha for high school at Luther Academy.

After high school Phyllis went to Denver because she wanted to see the mountains where she met her first husband Paul Haenel who was the father of her children (Linda, Steven and Lance). Paul and Phyllis were entrepreneurs and travelers. At various times they owned a car wash, tv repair store, auto air conditioning store, a toy store, pool hall and bowling alley while living in Phoenix and El Paso.

While in El Paso they acquired a Greyhound dog kennel, racing there and in Mexico. Eventually they moved to Bonita Springs, Florida racing at tracks in Bonita Springs, Miami and Pensacola. For a short time, they also lived and raced in Boston.

After their divorce Phyllis lived for several years in Kansas City modelling furs. During that period, she bought some land on the Lake of the Ozarks in Sun Rise Beach and built a house by herself on the side of a hill as well as docks for neighbors.

Phyllis eventually relocated back to Florida where she met Bruce Davis who would become her second husband in 1988. Bruce and Phyllis lived in Lake Forest, Ill and then Houston, Tx. In 1998 they moved to Naples, Fl residing in Glen Eagle. During the next 20 years they traveled the world as part of Bruce’s business career and have lived at Glen Eagle full time the last 8 years.

Phyllis enjoyed dancing and adventure and would take every opportunity to explore new places and do new things including sky diving, scuba diving, mountain climbing, hiking, tree climbing and haggling with merchants in foreign markets. In total she traveled to 35 countries and saw everything she could.

Phyllis is survived by Bruce, her loving husband of 34 years as well as her sister Alice Lavender and Lance Haenel her son. Her other son Steven Haenel and daughter Linda Haenel Formby previously passed. She is also survived by five grandchildren and six great grandchildren as well as three children and four grandchildren of Bruce’s.

Phyllis passed away on January 12, 2023 due cancer. When learning of her illness she said “I had a full life and did everything I wanted to and more”.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Phyllis Ann Davis, please visit our floral store.