James Allen Davis, 89, of Cañon City (formerly of rural Westcliffe and rural Villegreen), went to be with the Lord on Thursday, October 21st in Cañon City, Colorado. He was born October 4th, 1932 in Tobe, Colorado, to Earl and Pearl (Montgomery) Davis. He attended school through 8th grade at the Tobe one-room schoolhouse, and attended Kim High School through the 10th grade. He went to work at an early age, working for a local ranch and joining harvest crews in Oklahoma. He joined the Army in 1952, obtaining his GED and finishing his training at Fort Smith, Arkansas. He completed his military service after two years in post-war Germany, returning to Colorado in the fall of 1955. He married Ina Jo Reagan on November 18, 1955.
The couple moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where he worked as an electrician’s assistant at the CF&I Steel Mill. They purchased their mountain ranch near Ilse in Custer County in 1957, moving there in 1959 and raising their family there. Allen (as he was known to his friends and family) took up full time ranching in 1961. Through the years he supplemented ranch income with other jobs. He worked with dear neighbor Rich Hardin at his saw mill, dug trees with another good friend and neighbor, Gene Griffin, put up hay in the valley with friend, Harry Hanssen, and worked with reclamation workers at the Ilse Mine. In 1975, he formed a partnership with dear friend Hugh Munson in construction, completing many projects for Wet Mountain Valley residents. He and Hugh had many stories about putting up the big barns at McKenzie Junction for Oklahoma oilman Gale Turney. He and Ina Jo began dividing their time between their mountain home and their ranch at Villegreen in 1991. Allen continued to actively raise cattle until the fall of 2002. They sold the Villegreen ranch to family members and moved permanently to their home in north Cañon City in the fall of 2015.
Survivors include two daughters: Amy (Rick) Perschbacher and Gayla
(Kevin) Day, five grand-children: Monty (Kara) Wood, Cody (Candie) Day, Brittany (Aaron) Young, Casey (Stephanie) Day, and Kelly (Zach) Kruis, two step-grandchildren: Tate (Melani) Perschbacher and Charity Perschbacher, ten great-grand-children: Taylor Brown, Mason Wood, Jack Ryan Tryon, Daniel Day, Alivia Day, Renae Day, Cohen Kruis, Zoe Kruis, Abel Kruis, and Levi Kruis; four step-great grand-
children: Vyctoria Pratt, Angelina Atencio, Adrianna Atencio, and Aaliyah Atencio; one great-great-grandchild, Ava Corbett, one brother Jim (Shirley) Davis and one sister,
Lois Smith.
He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, two brothers: Lloyd Davis and Roy Davis, two sisters: Syble Glover and Jean Dykstra, infant son, Jason Cleve Davis, and granddaughter Mandy Wood Tryon.
Allen loved his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and enjoyed his times of worship at the Wetmore Community Church.
He was known for his generosity, always willing to lend a hand to someone in need. Allen loved his family and his country and was a true patriot Some of his favorite things to do included playing card and domino games with friends and family. He enjoyed gospel and country music and was blessed by it in many ways through the years. He was a devoted and loving Christian son, brother, husband, uncle, father, grandfather and friend and will be greatly missed by many.
A joint memorial service for him and his wife, Ina Jo Davis, who passed away on January 22, 2021, will be held at the Wetmore Community Center on Saturday, November 13th at 10 a.m.
Any memorial contributions will be donated or can be directed to Sangre de Cristo Hospice.