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Vanessa Jean Davis, 43, was a beloved friend, Elkins darling and cat enthusiast.
She passed away from metastatic breast cancer on Dec. 5, 2023, as her forever friends, Chrissy Cunningham Hall and Patricia Canelon Shumate, held her hands.
Born in Ashland, Ohio, on Feb. 14, 1980, Vanessa found her home in Elkins, West Virginia, in the mid-90s. She attended Elkins High School, where she acted in plays, joined the line dancing club, played volleyball and ran track before graduating in 1998. Vanessa studied at Davis & Elkins College, where she met lifelong friends and her partner of 24 years, Tyler Busic.
Vanessa was an Elkins icon. Many remember her smiling face from her hardworking years tending bar at C.J. Maggie's and The Jabberwock and, most recently, managing Henry G's Cafe. Her spirited personality beamed in her favorite colors, purple and teal, and her love of music, dancing, and butterflies. Fittingly, Vanessa is the name of several species of butterfly, and she shined their light of joy, welcoming, and persistence throughout her life.
Many treasure thoughts of Vanessa's warm heart and how inseparable she was from her feline friends. Throughout her life, she gave cats a loving home. She would spend her last dollar making sure they were fed and provided veterinary care. She kept a pillow with a photo of her cherished first cat Houdini to comfort her during her cancer care. His life was cut short by an automobile years ago; his ashes will be mingled with Vanessa's.
Vanessa loved the water, and her essence will return to the oceans she adored. Her ashes will be spread into the Atlantic and Pacific by Vanessa's longtime romantic partner, a tribute to their days on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware and the beaches of San Diego.
Wherever Vanessa went, she created her family, from her Sigma Phi Epsilon little sisters to her hospitality coworkers to her friends' children, whom she cared for wholeheartedly.
Vanessa will be lovingly remembered by her dear friends, including Tiffany Alexander-Hinzman, Kelly Gilmore Collett, Clark and Natasha Evans, Margot Gilmore Evick, Cristin Gallagher, Amber and Tim Gibson, Larry Gouer, Chrissy Cunningham Hall, Nicki Hinkle, Heather Morici, Tim Powell, Cindy Price, Amy Schumacher and family and Patricia Canelon Shumate and family; her companion, Tyler Busic; and her many supporters, Team Love for Vanessa.
The life of Vanessa Davis will be celebrated at El Gran Sabor in Elkins on the evening of Feb. 10 from 6 to 10 p.m.
Donations may be made in memory of Vanessa Davis to the Randolph County Humane Society.