Amy Davis, who celebrates her 100th birthday this week, was born in 1926 in Maplewood, New Jersey, to Wealthy and Kimball Ames and was named Margaret at birth.

Her family spent summers in Bethel, where she met Stan Davis. The two later married and raised five children together.

Her life has been marked by both tragedy and resilience, said her daughter, Betsy Retallack. In 1939, her mother, Wealthy Ames, died, leaving her an only child. Her father later married Ruth Carver, of Bethel, who had also recently lost her husband. Through that marriage, Davis gained three sisters and a brother.

After graduating from Wheelock College, she married and eventually settled in Bethel, embracing rural life in a small-town community.

In 1973, tragedy struck again when her husband died suddenly. In the years that followed, her five children married and had children of their own, and those grandchildren later welcomed children as well.

Davis taught kindergarten and first grade in School Administrative District 44 until her retirement, drawing on her education from Wheelock College.

“She was known for her deep love of teaching young children,” said Retallack.

Her enduring commitment to her community, family and church has sustained her through the years.

She still lives in the home her husband built about 70 years ago, overlooking the White Mountains.

“Though once considered ‘from away,’ she has become a fixture in the Bethel community after spending her entire adult life there,” said Retallack.