Sharon Marion (Buster) Davis, age 91, of New Berlin, WI died peacefully September 23, 2024 at Franciscan Place in Brookfield. She was a wonderful mother, wife, “Grammie Sharon” and friend to those who knew and loved her.
Sharon was born March 30, 1933 in Milwaukee to Alice and Herbert Weltzien. Her father died a few months after her birth. Five years later, Sharon’s mother married Bernard Buster. Sharon attended Fernwood School, then Bay View High School briefly before her family moved to Wauwatosa. Her stepfather died in 1950 when Sharon was 17 years old.
She graduated Wauwatosa High School in 1951. She then earned a bachelor’s degree at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied home economics and joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
After graduating UW in 1954, Sharon married Lawrence “Ike” Davis, whom she had met at Madison. They moved to Minnesota while Sharon taught junior high school and supported Ike as he completed veterinary school in St. Paul. In 1957 they moved to a “fixer-upper” home in Oconomowoc, WI. While raising six children and running a country homestead, she also assisted the veterinary practice, wrangling the many pets and critters she encountered around, and often in, her home.
Sharon was a devoted Catholic and lived a life of service. At St. Jerome’s Parish, she was a founder of the St. Gall’s meal program. She also later attended Holy Hill and St. Teresa in North Lake. Other volunteer work included Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Schoolhouse Players, serving as a reading tutor at St. Joan of Arc School, 4H, Oconomowoc Festival of the Arts, Hawk’s Inn in Delafield, Meals on Wheels, and additional visits to disabled women in Waukesha County. For many years she organized the Symphony Bus which took women from Watertown and Oconomowoc to concerts in Milwaukee.
Sharon was resilient, loved to laugh, and liked a good party. She had keen interests in travel, nature, dogs, tennis, music, antiques, art, history and meeting people. She cooked for a crowd, sewed roomfuls of clothing and décor, and shared her skills with others. She cherished her friends from church, school, community groups, tennis and travels.
Most of all, she loved her family. Sharon is survived by her children Tom (Barb), Peter (Kathy), Larry (Kathy), Kate (Mike) Kotecki and Mary (Bernie) Michaud, daughter-in-law Beth (Iley) Davis, 15 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and other family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Lawrence H. Davis and son Daniel Davis.
Special thanks to the caring staff at ProHealth Care and Franciscan Place, as well as in-home caregivers.
Visitation will be held Thursday, October 3 at 10:30 a.m. until time of eulogies at 11:45 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 12 noon, all at St. Jerome Catholic Church (995 S. Silver Lake St., Oconomowoc, WI 53066). Private burial. In lieu of flowers, memorials are appreciated to Milwaukee Rescue Mission (830 N. 19th St., Milwaukee, WI 53233 or milmission.org).