![]() ![]() With Maryknoll, she got all the adventure she could have asked for, and then some.īangor Daily News Objects from Kay Davis' travels over the years can be seen recently at her home in Bangor. “All my friends were getting married, but I wasn’t ready to settle down like that,” she said. But at 18, in 1963, she left school and joined the Maryknoll Sisters, a Dominican order founded in the state of New York in 1912 and dedicated to a mission of overseas service. ![]() The experience developed in her an early understanding of the power of compassion and a commitment to serving others.Īfter graduating from high school at 16, Davis enrolled at Farmington Teacher’s College, now the University of Maine at Farmington. The youngest of three children, she spent a lot of time with her parents in the company of people with mental illness. Like many employees in those days, Davis’ family was provided with a small apartment in the big central building of the hospital. Both her parents worked at what was then the Bangor State Hospital (now the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center). Born in Skowhegan, she moved with her family to Bangor when she was 10. “And I want to do some kind of service.”īangor Daily News Kay Davis, 71, a former Catholic nun and missionary who left her order to marry, raise a family and build a career of her own, talks recently at her Bangor home about how she will be leaving for a two-year commitment with the Peace Corps in Guatemala.ĭavis’ commitment to service is deep rooted. “I think I have one more adventure left in me,” Davis said during a recent interview in her home. But any trepidation she may be feeling is overridden by her innate spirit of adventure and her desire to serve the world community. Is she daunted by these challenges? Of course she is. Her Spanish is pretty good, but she may need to learn a bit of Mayan to help her navigate. She will stay with a local family, eat what they eat and live by their customs. After a three-month training period, she’ll probably travel to a remote area, far from services such as health care and amenities such as electricity. The details will fall in place later, but Davis knows her task will be to teach maternal and child health to village women. A college degree is preferred, but life experience and expertise also are highly valued. Kennedy’s administration, the Peace Corps sends American volunteers to live and work in communities around the world at the grass-roots level to improve health, education, agriculture, economic development and other aspects of daily life and prospects for the future. In a couple of months, the former Catholic nun and missionary - who left her order to marry, raise a family and build a career of her own - will leave for a two-year commitment with the Peace Corps in Guatemala.Įstablished in 1963 during the idealistic days of President John F. And she moved into a tidy rental house on a quiet side street in Bangor, with just her two cats for company.īut it turns out that Davis, 71, isn’t quite ready to settle down quietly into her golden years. She got rid of truckloads of belongings - furniture, books, appliances, bric-a-brac - and kept only the barest essentials. ![]()
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