Celebration of a Surrendered Life

We almost missed it. We were doing normal Saturday things this morning; I was balancing the bank account and Mom had begun to read the paper, when she called out, "Lowell Davis passed away! There's a memorial service for him at 11 this morning at Brentwood. We should go." It was already 10:20am, so we scurried about a bit to get dressed and hurried to the service.

For the benefit of the two or three readers outside this family, Lowell and Odessa Davis were a most unusual couple; elderly when they arrived in Austin, they had already led a life full of adventure and intrigue, and they acted as if they were just getting started. They were married for 74 years.

They met in China - each a missionary from a different religious affiliation. They decided Jesus was bigger than either affiliation, so they set an early example of unification and married. They worked together in China for a dozen years until a friend whispered to them that the Japanese Army of Occupation had Lowell on a "Terminate List" and they fled on foot with 2 small children and the clothes on their backs, leading a group of similarly threatened refugees to safety, hiding by day and fleeing through the countryside by night.

Lowell was silent about his reason for being on the list until just recently. It seems he was going up in the hills with his binoculars and reporting ship movements in the harbor to a friend of his. When Lowell's son heard this explanation he exclaimed, "Dad! You were a spy!" Lowell just shook his head and said, "I wasn't spying. I was just sharing information."

Back in the US, they were both educators for many years, but usually at poor, out-of-the way schools - sometimes in areas were the primary population was some indigenous group. I don't know why they came to Austin to retire, but that's when we got to know them. They lived in a mobile home and made an arrangement to put the trailer just south of the church building, where they stayed for a number of years. There are plans to plant a tree on that spot soon.

There was even a family relationship to Lowell; he was in some manner related to Aunt Audene, who was married to Granddaddy Brown's brother Eddy - parents of Sandy Brown Lowe and Randy Brown. Audene was at the service.

Lowell and Odessa were an integral part of Brentwood for many years. Odessa's sharp mind slipped away and she's in a care facility now. Lowell couldn't hear a word that was said in church for the last several years, but when someone would ask why he kept coming, he said, "I want Satan to know which side I'm on."

Two of his children, Steve Fuller, and Lowell spoke at his funeral. Several years ago Steve taped several interviews with Lowell regarding his years in China and his service as an educator. This was part of the Library of Congress' Spoken History project. Steve talked about his interviews and the recorded voice of Lowell spoke to various issues Steve brought up. It was very seamless and quite well done. It was good to hear him again.