1929 - 2021
Cornelia Isabel Davis Chandler passed away peacefully at the age of 91 on the morning of March 30, 2021, following a series of illnesses and injuries, in Louisville, Colorado. Connie, as she was known in adult life, had been a resident of Golden West Senior Living in Boulder, Colorado, since October of 2019. Connie was born on June 24, 1929, in Port Byron, New York, the youngest of seven children, to Charles Llewellyn Davis and Beulah Marguerite Smith Davis.
Isabel or Izzie, as she was known within the Davis family, was the granddaughter of John Yawger Davis and Mary Russell Davis from Union Springs, New York, on the shores of Cayuga Lake. After growing up during the Great Depression and World War II, Connie graduated from Port Byron High School in June of 1947. She went on to attend Cortland State Teachers College, where she received a Bachelor of Science in 1951 with a major in Elementary Education. She spent the following summer working at a Catskill Mountains resort. That summer, a young businessman from the city and his friend arrived at the resort for a double/blind date.
The young man, Austin, quickly decided he was more interested in his friend’s date, Connie, than his own. Connie took a preschool teaching position in Liverpool, New York, a suburb of Syracuse, after her Catskill summer. Not long afterward, Austin convinced her to marry him. They were wed on June 28, 1952 in Port Byron, and settled into a home in Amity Harbor, New York, where their first two children were born, Howard in 1953, and Nancy in 1955. In 1957, they relocated to Miami, Florida, where they lived for the next twenty years. Their youngest son, Russell, was born in 1962. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Connie and Austin lived in different locations around Florida, including Ocala, and Marathon.
In 1989, they moved to Winter Garden, Florida. Connie joined Walt Disney World Orlando as a Cast Member in the Liberty Square area of the Magic Kingdom until 1999. After retirement, she and Austin relocated to Longmont, Colorado, where they lived until Austin’s passing in 2016. Connie moved to Boulder, Colorado in 2017. In Florida, Connie enjoyed boating, gardening, and attending horse races with her husband Austin. After moving to Colorado, she continued to garden and was able to enjoy time with her grandchildren as they grew up, while caring for Austin as his health declined. Connie is preceded in death by her parents; her brothers John and Bruce Davis; her sisters Naomi, Carol, Emma, and Polly Davis; her husband Austin; and her son Howard Chandler. She is survived by her daughter Nancy Chandler Clark, son Russell Chandler and his wife Leslie (Mautner), daughter-in-law Ana Chandler (Redmann), granddaughters Hillary Clark, Leah Chandler, and Evelyn Chandler; grandsons Jason Clark and Zachary Chandler, and great-grandson Julian Clark.
