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FUNERAL >> Congresswoman died last Saturday Rep. Jo Ann Davis remembered for her years of public service

October 12, 2007 12:35 am

HAYES--Around 1,000 people traveled to Lighthouse Worship Center in this small town near Gloucester yesterday to remember 1st District Rep. Jo Ann Davis, who died Saturday after a two-year bout with breast cancer.

"Jo Ann Davis was the personification of a public servant, and of public service," said Rep. Randy Forbes, a Republican who represents Virginia's 4th District.

Congress was not in session yesterday, and around 150 of its members were flown from Washington to Langley Air Force Base, where they boarded buses for the service.

Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina had a hard time holding back tears as she spoke of a woman who was her close friend on Capitol Hill.

Myrick, a breast cancer survivor, said she sat down with Davis shortly after she was elected to Congress in 2000, "and decided I was going to mentor her."

She quickly learned that the two shared similar life stories. "Both of us were raised poor. Neither of us had college degrees. Both of us were secretaries," she said. "Neither one of us ever imagined we'd ever end up in Congress."

But Myrick quickly learned that Davis' climb to Capitol Hill had left her with plenty of wit and confidence, and, "It sure didn't take long for me to realize Jo Ann didn't need much mentoring."

Myrick and Forbes both remembered Davis' candor, faith, love of family, work ethic and commitment to her constituents.

"There wasn't a pretense there, and how could you help but love her?" Myrick said. "We know she's in a better place but it doesn't help the ache inside."

Davis' husband of 32 years, Chuck, sat in the front of the church with sons Charlie and Christopher and other members of the Davis family. On the other side of the church was Gov. Tim Kaine, and behind him rows of legislators and other officials.

Fire and rescue crews from the Hampton Roads area also filed in in uniform. Davis was known for her strong support of firefighters, whose ranks include her husband.

As these guests from all over the country entered the church to pay their respects, a slide show of images from Davis' life played on a large screen in the front of the sanctuary.

One image showed Davis in a knee-length white dress, leaning over to kiss her new husband at the altar at their wedding. Another showed a young Davis kneeling with her dog and cats in front of a Christmas tree. A few slides later she was getting a kiss from one of her sons at a backyard barbecue.

All of these pictures conveyed the strong love of home and family that speakers at yesterday's service said Davis was known for.

Those ties were so strong that they brought a homesick Davis home from college at Radford after only one day.

Davis later worked her way up from secretary to small business owner to congresswoman. "She worked hard for everything she got her entire life," Forbes said.

That hard work continued once she reached Congress, where Forbes said she would rise at 4 a.m. to make sure everything from her hearing notes to her hair was ready and in place.

After the service, a long trail of cars made the procession to Bellamy Memorial Cemetery in Gloucester, where Davis was buried with full military honors.

"She has given her last speech, shook her last hand and campaigned for the last time," said Pastor Bobby Collins of the World Outreach Worship Center in Newport News. "But Jo Ann Davis is not finished. She touched lives."