PORTLAND — Margaret “Jo” Davenport died Friday, Sept. 21, at Seaside Nursing Home in Portland, at the age of 88. She was raised with her three sisters and brother on Long Island in New York. She graduated from Radcliffe College and earned graduate degrees from Tufts University and Teachers College, Columbia University. Her father, Frank Smith, was a fine fly fisherman, and for 30 years the family summered at its camp in Rangeley, now known as Loon Lodge. There she met, and in 1964 married, Walter “Skeet” Davenport, adding daughter Melissa to their family of Karyl and Walter.

For 10 years, with husband, Skeet, and her family, she managed Grant’s Camps on Kennebago Lake. Her interest in education led to her years of service on the Rangeley School Board, and as chairman of the building committee for the present Rangeley Lakes Regional School. She also worked as bibrarian at the school. After years as trustee and president of the Rangeley Public Library board, she worked as librarian at the Rangeley Public Library for 11 years, until her retirement in 1998. Jo loved her family, friends and the beauty of Rangeley. She was an active volunteer, interested in town finance, and a member of the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and choir at the Church of the Good Shepherd. With Skeet, she received the Rangeley Community Service Award in 1983.

She was predeceased by her husband; her father, Frank; her mother, Margaret; a sister, Barbara; and her brother Calvin. She is survived by her children: Melissa and friend, Tom; Karyl; and Walter; her sisters: Nancy of Phoenix, Arizona, and Mary of Leesburg, Virginia; grandnephew, Donald; and a fine group of nieces, nephews and cousins of whom she was also very fond.

A graveside service will be held at Evergreen Cemetery, Main Street, Rangeley, on Friday, Oct. 26, at 11 a.m., followed by a reception at the undercroft at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Main Street, Rangeley. Condolences and tributes may be shared with the family on her memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial donations in her memory to the Rangeley Public Library, 7 Lake St., Rangeley, ME 04970, or to the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 2614 Main St., Rangeley, ME 04970.

Cremation care has been provided by the Wiles Remembrance Center/Adams-McFarlane Chapel of Farmington.

Margaret “Jo” Davenport

Copy the Story Link