Patricia Davis, 93, journalist, biographer, romance writer
She caught a glimpse of the handsome, distinguished sportswriter and her heart leapt. He too would steal a look at the gorgeous, brunette society writer and future romance novelist.
It was the mid-1940s when Patricia Talbot and B. Dale Davis met and fell in love -- kindred spirits with prestigious journalism careers at the Detroit Free Press. They married in 1946 and had three daughters while their careers took them across the globe to England and Albania. In the United States, they landed newspaper jobs in Alaska, California, and Philadelphia before they retired seaside in a house they had built in Cape May in 1978.
Their dedication to newspapers brought them to Philadelphia, where B. Dale Davis rose to become executive editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin and Mrs. Davis wrote Bulletin book reviews and three biographies.
Their love never faded through 48 years of marriage. When Mr. Davis died in 1995, she missed him so terribly that she wished for the day she could join him, said the couple's oldest daughter, Claudia Witham.
On Tuesday, Feb. 28, Mrs. Davis, 93, died of heart disease while at the Victoria Manor health-care facility in North Cape May.
"She really wanted to be with Daddy," Witham said. "They had an excellent marriage that was so wonderful and loving."
Mrs. Davis graduated with honors from Rockford College in Illinois, where she majored in history. She was a society columnist for the Detroit Free Press until 1947, when her first daughter was born. Mrs. Davis freelanced until she resumed newspaper work as a feature writer for the Grosse Pointe News in Michigan in 1955.
"She had a career in the '50s when it was the rogue thing to do," Witham said. "But she was always there for us at our Girl Scouts meetings and at the PTA."
In 1963, the couple moved to Philadelphia when Mr. Davis was hired as the Bulletin's Sunday editor. Mrs. Davis became a research editor for author Catherine Drinker Bowen while reviewing books for the Bulletin and serving as an editor for the New York Times News Syndicate. She also enrolled at Bryn Mawr College, earning a master's degree in colonial history in 1967.
Her friend Minney Robb of Bryn Mawr recalled Mrs. Davis as a passionate woman, loyal to the Phillies, and enthusiastic about bingo. She had an insatiable interest in history, with a special interest in England, and was vehement about a free press, Robb said. One of her greatest talents was writing biographies, Robb said.
Mrs. Davis wrote three nonfiction books, including a biography, Alexander Cassatt and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Together They Built a Mountain about Frank Lloyd Wright's synagogue in Elkins Park.
She resumed newspaper work, spending two years as a columnist for the Anchorage Alaska Times from 1982 through 1984.
From 1978 through 1995, Mrs. Davis took a new path in her career, writing 14 romance novels using the pseudonym Violet Hamilton. Every year she traveled to England researching the Regency era that she used as the backdrop for her novels. The titles include The Hidden Heart and A Scandalous Portrait.
Witham described her mother as a prolific reader and a political liberal.
Mrs. Davis believed "she was right, and other people were not quite right," Robb said of her friend's political views, adding that Mrs. Davis had hoped to live long enough to see Hillary Clinton elected president.
In addition to Witham, Mrs. Davis is survived by two other daughters, Melissa Davis and Hillary West; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for St. Peter's by the Sea in Cape May Point this summer. Contributions in memory of Mrs. Davis may be made to Holy Redeemer Hospice, 1801 Route 9 North, Swainton, NJ 08210. Condolences also may be left at spilkerfuneralhome.com