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OBIT-Charles Edward “C.E.” Davidson

MISSION – Charles Edward “C.E.” Davidson, 88, passed away on May 12, 2015, after a valiant battle with cancer. Charles was born to the late Charles Marvin and Rebecca Davidson on November 5, 1926, at the family home in Warsaw, Missouri.

The youngest of nine children, he grew up on an 800-acre family ranch before moving to McAllen, Texas, at the age of eight. His family made the long trip to Texas in a Model A Ford, with only a small trailer in tow carrying all their worldly possessions. Once in McAllen, his family lived in two small tents for several months on 45 acres in the Northgate area of McAllen while completing construction of the family home. They farmed the land and raised dairy cows in the following years, and Charles graduated from McHi in 1944 and from the McAllen Business College upon his return from the service. After high school, Charles went to Moore Field, just north of Mission, and enlisted in the Air Force cadet program. He was inducted into the Army Air Force in 1945 and sent to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio; basic training followed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls. He then went to Champaign, Illinois, for machinist training and was shipped to Okinawa as a machinist before being discharged in December of 1946.

Charles married his wife of 55 years, the late Mary Ellen Kidd, on April 10, 1946. They grew up in the local Nazarene church and had known each other since the age of 13. They raised four children together on land immediately south of what is today UTRGV in Edinburg and in the orchards of Sharyland. He will be remembered for the 35 years he spent as the accountant and production manager for the Shary-Shivers Estate orchards. His office was in the Shary-Shivers mansion, located on Shary Road, and he raised his children and grandchildren in the orchards surrounding the property. His family spent years playing throughout the orchards and fishing in the canals and lake, with Fourth of July picnics by the Shary-Shivers lake being a long-held family tradition.

Charles retired in 1995 and moved to a retirement community in Mission. During his years of service, he was on the Sharyland School Board for eight years, President of the RGV Horticultural Society, a member of the Board of the Texas Citrus Mutual, on the Board of Directors for Water District #7, and a longtime board member and Sunday School Superintendent at the First Church of the Nazarene in McAllen.

Charles was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ellen; brothers, Glen and Gilbert Davidson; sisters, Illene Cave, Pauline Townsend, Emma Jean, and Earline Davidson; grandson, Kristopher Ryan Powell; son-in-law, Rick Lee Powell; and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Terry-Davidson.

He is survived by his sisters, Mildred Ryan and Lucille Tripp; brother, Bob Davidson; his children, Charles Edward “Dave” Davidson Jr., Charla Sue Kulcak, Marianne Powell, and Richard Marvin Davidson; nine grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren; and his housekeeper of over 46 years, Julia A. Urbina.

A graveside service will be held Saturday, May 16 at Valley Memorial Gardens at 2 p.m. Pastor Jessica Causey-Korenek will officiate the service. The family gratefully declines flowers and donations, but prayers, condolences, and memories are gladly accepted by the Davidson family.

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