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1913 ~ 1998
The above photo was taken in 1973. Leila was 60
years of age, married to Myer Koscove and they resided at 4190
Dudley St., Wheat Ridge, Colorado.
 eila Elizabeth Davis,
nicknamed "Bug" by her father, was born July 11, 1913, in
Jasper Co., Webb City, Missouri. Leila was the fifth child of nine
children born to Daphne
Dale McColloch and John N. "Jack" Davis of Webb City,
Missouri and Picher, Oklahoma. Of the nine children four lived into adulthood. At the time of her death Leila was
the only living child of her parents having lived to the age of
84.
In 1913, the family moved from Webb City, Missouri
to Picher, Oklahoma where her father "Jack" was a Mine
Superintendent for the Eagle Picher Mining Co. and later the owner
of his own properties including the Davis Big Chief mine. The children grew
up and attended school in this wide open and bustling mining town.
She became an experienced horse woman while growing up in Picher, as her
father hired an officer in the military to give her riding
lessons. This experience would prove to be of some purpose later
in her life.
Leila also became an accomplished singer with her sister
"Alice" by her side on may occasions accompanying her on
the piano. Leila represented
her high school at many singing contests across the state of
Oklahoma, including a singing contest at Northeastern Oklahoma
University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which she won.
She and Alice performed in church, at funerals and many public
functions in the Picher community. By the time
she graduated high school, she was appearing every week on a
local radio show and was approached
to sing professionally but her parents disapproved and she went on
to attend the University of New Mexico after graduating high
school. She pledged Alpha Delta Pi and was voted most beautiful
woman on campus in December, 1932. Leila was a very petite woman
in stature at about 5 feet 2 inches tall with expressive
blue eyes.
In 1933 she married Roland Whitted and had one child Leila Dale
"Dale" or "Lee",
born February 11, 1934, and they were divorced later that year. In
August of 1935, she married Abraham "Don" Frankel born
April 7, 1891, Manhattan, New York and died June 24, 1959, Wheat
Ridge, Colorado.
Don was raised in Manhattan and by the age of 6 or 7 was
becoming an accomplished violinist. When he was
about 14 years of age he moved to Vienna, Austria and
lived with relatives there while he attended the
Conservatory of Music of Vienna studying conducting, music
composition and the violin. He returned to New York,
in 1911 and enjoyed a successful music career until the
mid thirties when he turned to the business world. Leila
and Don lived in the Tecumseh, Tulsa, and Broken Arrow, areas of
Oklahoma. During WWII Leila worked for a company that
manufactured munitions for the war as their Quality Control
Inspector.
By the end of 1945, Mr. and Mrs. Frankel had another two daughters,
Janice Raachel, born October 6, 1936, Elizabeth Louise,
Born September 14, 1945, and a son John David, born
September 27, 1937. By 1947, the family had moved
to Lakewood, Colorado, where Mr. Frankel started his own business
designing, manufacturing and selling storm windows.
The Frankels enjoyed entertaining and being active in community
service. As a member of the Jefferson County Parent Teacher
Association, Leila helped to establish the
first "Hot Lunch" program in the Jefferson County
Schools of Colorado.
The family home was full of youthful activity from the
children's friends and neighbors as well as bounding with
activity from a female Great Dane pup that Leila raised
and showed to blue ribbon success. Lucky's first and only
litter of pups yielded an impressive 12 puppies. The
registered Great Danes were sold and shipped across the
United States. (See
Lucky and her pups here)
In the suburban area of Lakewood many people enjoyed owning their own
horses and horseback riding. Mrs. Frankel owned a horse along with
her 15 year old daughter Janice, and several neighbors. In 1949
Leila joined with her neighbors and Mr. E. E. Wyland in founding
The Lakewood Riding Club and Drill Team for youngsters 9 years to
19 years old. The adults and kids enjoyed the many trail rides and
Easter Sunrise Services, the drill team was aimed at teaching
the youngsters the disciple of horsemanship and safety while keeping them out of
trouble. This drill team is now the nationally famous Westernaires.
Mr. and Mrs. Frankel divorced about 1957 and Mrs. Frankel remarried
about 1961, to Myer Koscove, owner of the Den-Col Supply Co. in
Denver, Colorado. They made their home at The Lido Apartments, 790
Washington, Denver, Colorado, and by 1965, had moved to 4190 Dudley Street,
Wheat Ridge, Colorado. They spent their years enjoying community service,
entertaining at home, traveling around the world extensively and eventually retiring
to their lovely home in Sun City West, Arizona. Mr. Koscove who was
born October 7, 1914, Canyon City, Colorado, died in March,
1984, Maricopa Co., Sun City West, Arizona, buried in Colorado Springs,
Colorado.
Leila stayed in Arizona after Myer's death and was joined there by
her daughters Leila Dale and Janice Raachel, and
their husbands. In June of 1987, Leila and her daughters
families moved from Arizona, to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where she
spent the remainder of her days. By the time of her death on
February 7, 1998, she had undergone two heart by-pass surgeries in
her lifetime to live a full life. She was 84 years
old, a member of the First United Methodist Church of
Tahlequah, and survived by four children and eight grand children.
By Liz (Frankel), youngest daughter of Leila Elizabeth
Davis
Note: As Mama's youngest child I was afforded the gift of spending
many years full of movies, lunches, travel and private
conversations with her. During these times I learned first hand
the depth of her love for each and every single one of her
children and how this love never wavered at any time during her
life.
When life dared to surprise her she
would fight each round no matter how long and "beat it " her way
while maintaining her self worth, dignity and sense of
humor. She was a giving person and managed to fulfill most
of her dreams even though she had a bothersome heart. With
the miracle of heart by-pass surgery we found out after
her first surgery that she had lived her entire
life with one of the major arteries to her heart being
acutely undersized since birth. Her
life was never boring! |
Leila
Elizabeth Davis in tree . . .
Last Updated ~ October 19, 2004
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