Patricia B. Davis

Patricia Brown Davis, of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, peacefully slipped from this world into the next on March 21, 2026, listening to music, surrounded by loved ones. A musician, educator, storyteller and traveler, she deeply adored her family, friends, community and the arts. She was 87.

As a music teacher, Pat was "Mrs. Davis" to generations of Wellsboro Junior and Senior High School students and "The Ivory Lady" to community members who appreciated her piano-playing prowess. Her grandchildren called her "Grandma Peach," while others referred to her, simply, as "Peach."

Born on April 30, 1938, she was the oldest child of Ellsworth and Helen (Graham) Brown. She grew up in a fun-loving family who enjoyed a variety of activities together, including fishing and picnicking. Among early adventures, she joined her father in live-catching rattlesnakes to sell to Johns Hopkins Hospital for research and venom. Her childhood was spent in the village of Holliday on the outskirts of Wellsboro, where her family ran a small general store. For a number of her childhood years, she resided in Rhode Island when her father, a Corning Glass Works engineer based at the company's Wellsboro plant, was assigned to work at Corning's Central Falls facility.

At the age of 14, she began performing in her father's dance band, playing accordion at round, square and polka dances in area clubs, granges and bars.

In addition to accordion, she played the baritone and string bass, but her main instrument in life was the piano, used to delight, unite, educate and inspire.

Pat graduated from Wellsboro High School in 1956 and attained her bachelor's degree in music education from Mansfield State College in 1961. She maintained lifelong friendships and regular reunions with her '56 and '61 classmates. She went on to earn a master's degree in music ed at Penn State. 

Beginning her teaching career in State College, Pat then taught in her hometown from 1963 to 1993, reveling in exposing students to experimental music, inspiring future musicians, and encouraging all to embrace the power and joy of music in their daily lives. Outside of the classroom, she directed student choruses, special singing ensembles and high school musicals.

She played piano in the Penn Wells Hotel lounge, entertaining many a visitor and community member. For 55 years (from 1970 to 2025), she served as accompanist for the Wellsboro Men's Chorus and had been its longest serving member. She helped launch the Wellsboro Women's Chorus in 1979. She often accompanied Mansfield University music students in their senior recitals, pitched in to play for a few MU musicals and also played piano for art openings at the Gmeiner Art Center. Her "Dueling Pianos" and "Leading Ladies" gigs were a hot ticket. Some will recall her performances with the traveling "Pageant Wagon" of the '70s.

In the '80s, she and her daughters owned and operated Wellsboro's first bed and breakfast in the historical Jesse Robinson Manor. The home was a hub of hospitality, Halloween haunted house tours, assorted shenanigans and leisurely porch conversations. Into her early adult years, Pat enjoyed playing tennis and racquetball, horseback and motorcycle riding, and skiing.

At the age of 55, she retired from teaching and began traveling the world. Among her destinations: Nepal, Tibet, Cambodia, Thailand, Bali, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Borneo. (One treasured memory: frolicking with orangutans in the forests of Borneo.) She also made numerous trips to Europe and Mexico; the latter included summer sojourns to her beloved San Miguel de Allende.

Also during retirement, Pat started writing her memoirs and encouraging others to do the same. She co-led memoir-writing workshops and shared her memoirs in the "Heart of the Mountain" column published in Mountain Home magazine. She joined the Friday Club, a women's writing tradition in Wellsboro since 1905, and she completed 25 annual papers for the intellectual organization. Other explorations in the power of the word included her short play, "The Fun House," staged by Hamilton-Gibson Productions (Tioga County's community theatre organization), and weekly meetings in her home with a small group of close friends known as "The Pearl Street Writers."

Pat officiated weddings and enjoyed collaborating with the couples on planning the ceremonies and writing their vows. She was particularly proud to preside over the wedding of one of her grandsons.

Pat wrote lyrics and composed and arranged music for many songs. Her creative efforts echo on in "The Greenest Green," "Ol' Tioga," and "Nod & I," among others. For a 2021 documentary titled "Nessmuk: In Defense of Nature in the Pennsylvania Wilds," she set music to poetry written by 19th-century American naturalist George Washington Sears, whose pen name was "Nessmuk."

A longtime member of Wellsboro Rotary Club, she was named a Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International's highest honor, in 2004. The club granted her emerita status in 2025. She had previously served on Rotary's board and the boards of the Wellsboro Community Concert Association and Hamilton-Gibson, for which she also had served on its Artistic Planning Committee.

Her other local organizations included Wednesday Morning Musicales, a ladies' social "Red Hats" group and a "Creativity Goddesses" circle. During her educator years, she was active in the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

Pat remained engaged in her community up until her most recent illness which began in mid-November. She had battled kidney disease for the past nine years. She previously triumphed over cancer.

She is survived by her three daughters: Kathleen Robinson, of Baltimore, Maryland; Maxine (Steve) Phillips, of Annapolis, Maryland; and Cindy (Duane) Meixel, of Williamsport; four grandchildren: Richard (Stacey) Robinson, of Williamsport; Andrew (Brittany) Prevatt, of Annapolis, Maryland; Allison (Austin) Treubert, of Arlington, Virginia; and Aria Meixel, of State College; five great-grandchildren: Mason, Remi, Colton, Grayson and Sholto; "extra daughter" Linda (Chuck Schmucker) Galeone, of Wellsboro; and nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, dear friends, former students and many music fans.

In addition to her parents, Pat was predeceased by a sister, Ann; brother, David; and infant daughter, Johanna.

Pat's family thanks the staff at Rose View Nursing & Rehabilitation Center for their care since early December and UPMC Hospice Services for its support in the last week of her life.

Visitation will be held Friday, April 17, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Tussey Mosher Funeral Home, 139 Main St., Wellsboro. A life celebration - "Pat's Afterglow" - will be held Saturday, April 18, at the Penn Wells Hotel, 62 Main St., Wellsboro, beginning with a visitation and social hour at 1 p.m., followed by a program from 2 to 3 p.m. in the hotel's dining room. (An "Afterglow" was the traditional gathering held at the Penn Wells following a concert by the Wellsboro Men's & Women's Choruses. The title seems fitting.) Guests are welcome to wear their favorite colors or don a favorite hat. Pat would say: Anything goes! 

A private family burial will take place at Fairview Cemetery, in Holliday.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Wellsboro Glass Historical Association, 19 Crafton St., Wellsboro, PA 16901 (Pat was regularly interviewed about her father's role in designing Corning Glass Works' Christmas ornaments and the World War II-era U.S. flag crafted from glass ornaments that is displayed in the Penn Wells Hotel lobby) or Wellsboro Rotary Club, P.O. Box 961, Wellsboro, PA 16901 (Pat enjoyed participating in Rotary's annual Christmas party for local foster children and appreciated the club's international youth exchange program).

What a life! Onto the next great adventure!