Kelvin John “Kelly” Davis 6 May 1945 to 5 June 2020
It is with sorrow that we report the passing of long time Paluma resident, Kelly Davis. He died on 5th June after battling an aggressive illness.
Kelly was an active member of the Paluma community, generous with his help and expertise in many areas, from repairing a broken rocking chair to building a veranda, clearing fallen trees and debris from properties after cyclone damage, to helping dig a garden bed. He was tireless in his assistance to Len at the annual Anagama kiln firing: cutting and stacking timber for the fire and helping to monitor the kiln temperature for the four or five days of the operation. In everything he did, Kelly was attentive and thorough. There are very few gardens that do not have bulbs donated from Kelly’s garden and many of us benefitted from the produce from his very successful fruit and vegetable plots.
Before coming to Paluma Kelly had lived in Mount Isa where he was employed by Mt Isa Mines and worked as a powder monkey, deep underground. He and his family moved to Forest Beach where Kelly worked on line maintenance for Victoria Sugar Mill in Ingham.
Kelly came to Paluma in 1987, where with his then wife Carol, he owned and operated the very popular Ivy Cottage tea room. The business was sold in 1989 to Ann and Andy Bishop. Kelly worked in a variety of roles for Townsville City Council and then for National Parks until his retirement.
Retirement did not slow him down however: he just spent more time helping people with various projects, and indulging in his passions for gardening, traveling, wood-turning, (many will have seen his beautiful wooden bowls), and fossicking. Kelly also had an interest in quality wines and over the years built quite a collection, stored in the cellar he built beneath his house.
Kelly was a keen traveller, always interested in other countries and other cultures and learning about their history. As well as travelling extensively within Australia, his many travels included voyages to Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, Europe, USA, the Scandinavian countries and most recently France, in late 2019.
The Paluma community will greatly miss Kelly. Our condolences go to Kelly’s family and to Elizabeth and Marilyn in the loss of a person so dear to them all.
Colwyn Campbell