Diane Davis

Diane Reciputi Davis, 85, of Winter Park, Fla., died at home on November 7, 2023 after a year-long fight with liver cancer. She was born December 17, 1937, to Bruno C. and Anna C. Reciputi in Amityville, Long Island, NY. She graduated from Amityville High School in 1955 and attended Skidmore College and Harcum Junior College before earning a B.A. in English from the Rollins College Hamilton Holt School in 1987. She married Edward M. Davis of Miami Shores, FL in 1959, with whom she had three sons before divorcing in 1974. Diane is survived by her sons Bobby and Jody Davis of Winter Park, FL and Michael Davis of Harlingen, TX.; sister Natalie Reciputi (Robert Katz); nephew Matthew Shea; daughter-in-law Giorgia Davis; granddaughters Emilie Davis, Julia Davis, Bella Davis, and Sara Davis; great granddaughter McKenzie Fulmer; and beloved cousins Nadine Larson and Jean Jackson. World War II disrupted Diane’s settled family life, as her father worked in the aviation industry and was drafted to work on the Manhattan Project, causing moves to Oak Ridge, TN, Scranton, PA, and finally two years living with her grandmother in Copiague, Maria Crepaldi along with her cousin Nadine. There she learned to understand Italian as that was the language in the home. She remained fascinated with World War II her entire life, devouring books, films, and series on the era. Bruno took her on some of his travels when she came of age to the Bahamas, Aruba, Venezuela, Cuba, Seattle, and Los Angeles, which she considered invaluable life experience and fueled a lifelong love of travel. Extremely proud of her Italian heritage, she took several trips to Italy, two with Natalie, one with Nadine, and a final trip with her sons. She loved the beach, going out on her father’s boat, and seafood in addition to Anna’s excellent Italian cooking. She met her husband, Edward, in Miami on family visits to her aunt Ella and uncle Arty’s home and was a housewife throughout her marriage. They spent a joyful year when Bobby was newborn living on an island in the Long Island Bay, selling gas and bait to fisherman and running a restaurant. Starting over after divorce, Diane began working as a file clerk at Crum & Forster Insurance in Orlando, where her mentor, Roy Ragsdale, helped her learn the ropes of the industry and pushed her to assume more responsibility. She was very proud to become a full commercial underwriter and often shared her knowledge of insurance. She also began taking adult courses at Rollins College while working, which she greatly enjoyed, and was extremely gratified to earn her degree. She made great friends at Crum and retired in 2003. Diane loved classic art and architecture, surrounded herself with art and art books and was always awed by the Renaissance greats and Impressionists. She loved music, including early soul and rhythm and blues, the folk musicians of the 1960s, Motown bands, and other singers. She was an avid reader all her life, particularly history and murder mysteries, and loved modern British and Scandinavian crime series. She loved creating and tending her garden, interior decoration, attending at museums and the Winter Park Art Festival, her cats and dog. She had an astonishing knowledge of dog breeds, and was an excellent cook particularly baking pies. Her cream cheese pie is a family favorite. Above all, she was devoted to family, her sons and grandchildren, sister, and cousins, and a great repository of family lore. She loved her sons unconditionally and enjoyed their many idiosyncrasies and their often- questionable humor. She taught integrity, discipline, kindness, open- mindedness, and financial responsibility.

Diane Davis

December 17, 1937 - November 7, 2023