Hannelore "Pepper" Davies

1935-2019

Hannelore "Pepper" Davies was a remarkable woman. There were many different sides to her.   In addition to  being a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she was a pioneer, a history buff, a journalist,  a scientist, an activist, a bridge player, a bunco player, and a crafter who enjoyed painting, crewel embroidery, and quilting.  She was an educator, a  mentor to other educators and students, and a lifelong learner. Her 83 years were very full.

Pepper grew up in an old farmhouse in Springfield, Ohio. Her father was a diesel engineer from Germany. He worked on the factory floor until he improved his English. Then he worked as a diesel engineer for White Motor Company, which made heavy machines during WWI, then specialized in trucks and buses, including many that are still in use in several National Parks today. Once he even flew to offshore Houston to repair the large motors on oil rigs.

Her mother came from Germany as a young woman and worked as a governess for a family with a small son until she herself was married. Even though they were raising Hannelore during the Depression, they made sure she had a few children's books, which was rare at the time.

During high school Hannelore played softball, liked history and current events, and wrote for the school newspaper. After finishing high school she moved to Oxford to attend the Miami University of Ohio where she acquired the nickname "Pepper."   She worked on the university newspaper there as well.

There were very few women geology majors back then, and she was the only woman participating in  the summer geology field camp that was a requirement to graduate with a degree in geology. Of course, she could not live with the male students in the barracks, so they found a small room for her in another building. She often told the story about going to the outhouse in the middle of the night and bumping into something large and furry in the dark. As you can imagine, she was pretty frightened until she realized it was Jenny, the camp pack mule.

Not only was she a pioneer as a woman in the Geology Department at Miami University, that is also where she met her future husband Rhys Davies. He was getting a Master's Degree in geology on the GI Bill after having served two years in the Marines and returning home to Oxford, Ohio. Before he could finish his thesis, Rhys was hired by Shell Oil Company to work as a micropaleontologist analyzing and dating oil well cores using the fossils of plankton.  As a result Shell Oil moved him to Jackson, Mississippi, and she stayed in Ohio to graduate. While they were apart for a year, they wrote numerous letters back and forth as long distance phone calls were prohibitively expensive back then.

After having earned some money, Rhys quit working for Shell and moved back to Ohio, so he could write his Master's thesis and ask Pepper to marry him. They were married in Springfield, Ohio, surrounded by family and friends. They lived in an apartment in a repurposed Quonset hut in "Vetville," the married student housing at Miami University. Once Rhys finished his Master's Degree, he was rehired by Shell, and they moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She worked for the United States Geological Survey and had to learn to spell place names like "Thibodaux" and "Natchitoches."  She was also introduced to mosquitoes. At that time spouses of employees could not work for the same oil company, or for the competition.

A year later they moved to New Orleans, and Rhys started working at the Shell office on Airline Highway. They soon had a daughter, Ann. Pepper was interested in history and politics and she was involved in the League of Women Voters. She even went to a political rally with baby Ann in tow long before backpack baby carriers were invented. Baby Margaret arrived soon after. The family enjoyed fun, busy years of messy art projects, playing in the backyard with friends, swim lessons, card games, and numerous trips to the library (the rule was we girls could only check out as many library books as we could personally carry, but it was often broken). There were frequent visits to Jackson Square to chase pigeons and climb on the canons and to the zoo, which was free back then. As the girls started kindergarten and elementary school, PTA meetings and playing bridge with friends was added to the schedule. Pepper was always creative and enjoyed painting classes and crewel embroidery.

Rhys and Pepper didn't shelter their daughters, but exposed them to the world over the years with Sunday afternoon drives through rural areas where they could see cows; visits to downtown to look at antique stores or go shopping; and trips to Ohio and Miami to visit family, and Mammoth Cave and the Smoky Mountains to see mountains and forests.

Not one to stay home while her children were at school during the day, Pepper went back to Loyola University New Orleans to earn a degree in Library Science and then a Master's Degree in the Art of Teaching Science from Tulane University.

During her first year of teaching 8th grade earth science at Ralph Bunche Middle School in an underprivileged area of Jefferson Parish, she had a group of students that even the most experienced teachers said were the most difficult students they had ever had. And the school had been built during the "separate, but equal" era so there was no running water in the science classrooms and she had to carry buckets of water from the bathroom for the lab experiments. She not only survived that first year, but she persevered and went on to have a very long, impactful career teaching earth science to middle schoolers.

Pepper truly cared about her students. There was a boy who was shuffled between his two uncaring parents' homes – neither situation was very good. Occasionally he would call her at home and she would stay on the phone with him for an hour, giving him the opportunity to talk out his troubles. Even though Ann and Margaret were annoying teenagers by then, they understood that during that hour he needed her more than they did.

She also mentored Gifted and Talented Students and taught for several years at Eleanor McMain Magnet School in Orleans Parish. In addition to teaching 8th grade Earth Science, she shared her love of history. When the school needed someone to teach Russian history, Pepper stood up to the call.  She and a colleague actually took a class of high school Russian History students to Russia. Pepper was a very brave woman.

During her career Pepper won several awards including "Teacher of the Year" from both the Louisiana Science Teachers Association and the Orleans Parish Public Schools. In addition to teaching students, she presented many talks at conventions, worked on the state science curriculum committee, and traveled around the state showing elementary teachers in small towns how to teach science and inspire their own students.

Meanwhile Rhys and Pepper's own two daughters had grown, gone to college, and started their own families. When she finally retired from teaching, she made numerous beautiful quilts. Rhys and Hannelore moved to Houston in 1998. She spent many hours inspiring her own grandchildren by reading with them, playing board games, baking cookies, and going to baseball games, soccer games, basketball games, volleyball games, and recitals. As a lifelong learner she was active with the American Association of University Women, attended book groups, played Bunco with her friends, and went to water aerobics. She and Rhys also attended Classics Classes at the church. They adopted two dogs that were being fostered by a neighbor and enjoyed Lucy and Li'l Bit for many years.

Pepper and Rhys were married 61 years.  Hannelore is now the great grandmother of three adorable children. And because she was such a powerful influence on her children, her grandchildren, her students, and her colleagues, her legacy will continue long after she is gone. We already miss her very, very much.