Mrs. Kathy Joyce (Palone) Davis, beloved mom (wow upside down), grandma, sister, aunt, friend, teacher, sports fan, pet lover and all around live-out-louder entered into heaven on February 12, 2018 unexpectedly. She was 68 years young.

She was born October 6th, 1949 in Batavia, New York, the daughter of Joyce Raymond Palone and Robert Palone, and the granddaughter of Marian Raymond and William Ridge.

Survivors include her former husband, David Davis, and their four children, David Davis the 2nd of Surprise, Arizona, Kathy Ellen Davis and her husband Daniel Gratien of Santa Clara, CA, Deborah Burns and her husband Jared Burns of Plattsburgh, NY, and William Davis of Plattsburgh, NY , as well as her three grandchildren, Lilyanna  Davis, Clayton  Burns, and Rosemary Gratien. Her sisters Karen Stewart, Deborah Wilson, and Jennifer Stancavage, her brother Robert Palone Jr, and their spouses and families as well as other nieces and nephews also survive her.

Now let's talk about Kathy. If you knew her, chances are you met her in one of a few ways. Maybe you knew her growing up. She loved spending time with her family and especially her brother and sisters. Even when she was away from her younger siblings she sent them letters, cards, and other things in the mail.

Maybe you attended college with her at Genesee Community College or at Plattsburgh State, where she graduated and, later, three of her four children did as well. Maybe you met her at Chazy Central Rural School. She taught there for thirty-three years across various grade levels, but spent the most time in kindergarten, first grade and third grade. She had a knack for teaching children how to read and write and was famous for her list of "runaways…" those words that don't follow the spelling rules!

Maybe she taught your kids, or you, or maybe even you AND your kids! She loved when she was out and about and happened to run into former students. Many a conversation started with, "Mrs. Davis?" and ended with Kathy talking to a former student and asking about their family. She was great at remembering her students and truly loved children and teaching. Maybe you attended a Kindergarten gym show that she helped put together or a first grade play she helped write. Maybe you were one of the lucky few students to be there the day she drove her motorcycle down the hallway. Maybe you were in her class when she competed fiercely against other classes in the popular Parents as Reading Partners reading challenges.

If you saw her at school, you mostly likely saw her with a smile on her face and her kids in tow. As with many teachers, her influence on her student's lives is probably more than she ever even knew.

Maybe you knew Kathy from the sports field. She loved playing basketball and field hockey in her younger years, and passed her love of sports on to her children. She was there cheering them on while they played sports throughout the North Country and even coached her kids a few times! She was very proud of her years being involved with Plattsburgh Little League, first as a secretary, then as an assistant coach and eventually head coach. She spent many a vacation and summer traveling around to cheer her kids on in basketball and baseball tournaments, and loved that she could cheer them on in college when they played sports at Clinton Community College and Plattsburgh State. She even attended dodgeball games when Kathy Ellen and Billy played in Plattsburgh, even though they were full-grown adults at the time!

She was always a good sport and loved to follow the careers of other athletes that competed with her kids. If you knew her from sports, you probably also knew her from her loud cheering and her cowbell! She passed her love of sports on to her grandchildren, making sure she had a fisher price basketball hoop at her house they could practice on when they came to visit.

Maybe you knew Kathy through her children. She was so proud of each of them and never hesitated to show up to an event any of them participated in! There was no way to know any of the Davis children without knowing Kathy. And if you knew Kathy as a parent, you have certainly heard many a story about the Davis children. She loved updating people around town as to what each of her kids were up to and was proud of everything they accomplished and were accomplishing.

She enjoyed spending time with them and absolutely loved being a Grandma. Being a grandma to her meant showering her grandchildren with gifts, singing them songs in person or over the phone, sending them cards in the mail, planting tons of hugs and kisses on them, cheering them on with every little thing they did, and enjoying them over at her house in the summer, swimming in the pool. Getting updates on and spending time with her grandchildren was one of her favorite things to do, and she was beyond excited that she would become a grandparent to a fourth grand baby in the future.

Maybe you knew Kathy from church. She loved God and was generous with her time and efforts. She loved supporting families she met at church and worshiping.

Maybe you knew Kathy as an animal lover who couldn't say no to a stray cat or dog. She had a huge heart for animals and brought many of them into her home over the years.

Maybe you were lucky enough to know Kathy as a member of your family. If you did, you know all the above, and more, is true, and how much she will be missed.

However you knew Kathy, you know that she was generous, smart, compassionate, hard working, and kind with a contagious smile and laugh and a person who never hesitated to find a way to make someone's day. She will be missed by all that knew her, but we know she will stay with us and live in on in the stories and memories we hold so dear.

A Celebration of Life for Kathy will be held on Saturday, February 24th from 3:00 – 5:30pm in the Community Room at the City Recreation Center (City Gym) in Plattsburgh, located at 52 US Oval. Come share stories, laughs and celebrate the joy that Kathy brought to your life. Additional details can be found on the Facebook Event Page .

Being Kathy also meant preparing for things, so her children were not surprised to find a partial obituary she had written for herself, including a section about "in lieu of flowers," which we'll include here word for word: "Donations may be made to the Elmore SPCA. She was a great lover of cats and animals."