Virginia A. Davis

Virginia Ann Davis, age 79, of Watertown, SD, passed away on Friday, October 17, 2025, at Avantara Nursing Home in Clark, South Dakota. Funeral services will be at Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 10:30 am in Watertown, South Dakota.  The family is requested to meet at the chapel on Saturday by 10:00 a.m. for a prayer service.  The funeral service will be live streamed via our web site.

Visitation will be held at the Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel in Watertown prior to services starting at 9:30 a.m.

Burial will be at the Goodwin Cemetery in Goodwin, South Dakota. Honorary pallbearers will be Aleshia (Moe) Armbright, Anna Moe, Alina (Davis) Mallari, Connor Davis and Landon Davis. Active pallbearers will be Ira Davis Jr., Darrick Moe, Richard Moe, Trevor Davis, Florian Davis and Phillip Davis.

Virginia was born on November 16, 1946, in Junction City, Kansas to Mandley and Selena (Waittier) Brist. She attended Watertown High School, Watertown, South Dakota. She returned to school and achieved her GED in 1985 at the age of 39 at Harmony Hill Community College in Watertown, South Dakota.

On March 18, 1967, Virginia married Ira “Ike” L. Davis. The couple moved to Minneapolis where she and Ike managed an apartment property. They moved numerous times before returning back to Wallace in 1978 and into Watertown in 1980.

Virginia had many different occupations and was not afraid of hard work. She waitressed while her husband went to technical college in Wadena, Minnesota. She loaded 150 pound flax straw bales onto flatbed semi-trucks, cleaned homes, delivered newspapers, drove school buses for the Watertown Public School District and ran her own daycare business for over two decades. In addition, she worked at Memorial Hospital and St. Ann's Hospital as a surgical unit housekeeping staff until they merged to become Prairie Lakes Hospital. For many years, she also worked at the Watertown Public Opinion in a variety of capacities such as delivering newspapers, answering phones, cleaning offices, and bundling newspapers for route carriers.

Virginia was a lifelong learner and continuously attended South Dakota state training and college courses in order to advance her knowledge and improve her in-home daycare. Virginia enjoyed baking, cooking, sewing, writing poetry and stories, singing, searching for different recipes, and reading. Her family was very important to her. She loved and cared for them deeply.

Virginia is survived by one daughter, Robin (Darrick) Moe, Maple Grove, MN; three sons, Ira L. Davis Jr., Watertown, SD, Trevor (Ute) Davis, Hohenfels, Germany, Mandley (Brenda) Davis, Sioux Falls, SD; eight grandchildren: Aleshia (Moe) Armbright, Anna Moe, Richard Moe, Florian Davis, Phillip Davis, Alina (Davis) Mallari, Connor Davis, and Landon Davis; six great-grandchildren: AvaMarie Armbright, Marguerite Armbright, Josephine Armbright, Genevieve Armbright, Levi Mallari and Emma Mallari; four brothers, William Brist, Fay Brist, Tim Brist, and Phillip Brist; and two sisters, Martha Oxbourgh and Carolyn Herman.

Virginia was preceded in death by her husband (Ike), her parents (Mandley and Selena), two brothers and two sisters.

Arrangements by Crawford-Osthus Funeral Chapel www.crawfordosthus.com Watertown and Hayti

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