Gail Chaffee Obituary

Gail Smock Chaffee

May 12, 1934 - December 10, 2024

Gail Smock Chaffee, 90, died on Dec. 10, 2024 in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

She was born on May 12, 1934 in Sharon, Pennsylvania, to Arthur Lee Smock and Cleora Muriel Joy Wheeling Smock, who ran a drycleaning shop next to the family home. She was the third of four daughters who remained deeply committed to each other and their shared family history throughout their lives.

A graduate of Hickory High School in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, she attended Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania for two years before switching to The Pinkerton School for Secretaries in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from which she graduated with merit in 1954.

In 1955 she married Willis H. Davis, Jr. of Pittsburgh, and they moved to Roanoke, Virginia, where he took a job as a life insurance salesman in his uncle's agency. She followed him through frequent career and location changes over the next three decades. Throughout that time, Gail worked to help support the family, often as a church secretary, and later as a manager of administrative staff in the insurance and banking industries. She also taught Sunday School, sang in church choirs and served as a Girl Scout leader.

After her 31-year first marriage ended in divorce, Gail's older sister Faye Smock Parker introduced her by mail to a Pennsylvania widower and longtime family friend, Paul V. Chaffee. The two struck up a robust correspondence, followed by frequent phone calls and finally an "in person" meeting in September of 1986. They were married just two months later, on the day after Thanksgiving, in Tempe, Arizona, and she moved to Wattsburg, Pennsylvania until Paul retired. At that point they became "snow birds," living in their bucolic farm-country home in the summer and returning to Green Valley, Arizona in the winter. In both locations, the couple were blessed with deep community ties, meaningful volunteer work and loving friendships.

When they sold their Wattsburg home and relocated permanently to Green Valley, Gail spent even more time volunteering on behalf of children and families. In the late 1990s she served as co-chair for the Child Protection Task Force at Green Valley Community Church. She worked with the nonprofit Good Samaritans organization to provide water for immigrants making the dangerous trek north across the border, tutored migrant children, and worked shifts at the Sahuarita Food Bank. She also volunteered with Friends in Deed, which provides equipment loans and transportation services for the physically disabled and incapacitated. She enjoyed Pilates, hiking in Madera Canyon, playing bridge with friends, a study group she and Paul attended, and visits with children and grandchildren.

Gail and Paul found their true spiritual home in 2000, when they transferred to the United Church of Christ in Green Valley, Arizona. Here they found the freedom to explore their mutual interest in testing the limits of the religious training of their earlier years. They came to think of themselves as humanists -- valuing reason, empathy, compassion, justice, and service to others above all else. They also practiced sustainable living to the best of their ability, including installing solar panels on their home when they knew they would not live long enough to recoup the cost through reduced electricity bills.

Gail is survived by three children: Karen Davis Barr (Daniel C. Barr) of Paradise Valley, Robert H. Davis (Judith Milas Davis) of Phoenix, and Ronald A. Davis of Seattle, Washington; and four step-children: Paula Chaffee Scardamalia (Robert Scardamalia) of Rensselaerville, New York, Mark Chaffee of Hamilton, Illinois, Lauren Chaffee of Avondale, and Cynthia Chaffee Kidder (Jeff Kidder) of Boulder, Colorado. She is also survived by eight grandsons, one granddaughter, six great-grandsons, and four great-granddaughters.

Because Gail suffered from two terrible neurological conditions -- Alzheimer's dementia and Multiple System Atrophy -- her children coordinated a donation to the "Gift-of-Hope" tissue donor program run by the Human Brain and Spinal Fluid Resource Center in Los Angeles ([email protected]). Her final gift to humanity will help scientists find answers and ultimately a cure to neurological disorders.

Per her wishes, please direct any memorial gifts to the Sahuarita Food Bank or its Back Pack Program, 17750 S. La Cañada Drive, Sahuarita, AZ 85629 (sahuaritafoodbank.org or 520-777-7675).