Buried February 22, 2001
Parental links contributed by F.A.G. volunteer, Alexa (#47396428)
Priscilla Davis, the flamboyant socialite whose life was forever altered by a killer's bullet, one August night in her west Fort Worth mansion, died of cancer Monday at her Dallas home. She was 59.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sparkman Hillcrest Chapel in Dallas. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park.
Mrs. Davis, known to almost everyone as simply Priscilla, spent her adult life in the middle of one storm or another, often because of her flashy lifestyle and her disregard of convention.
But the greatest storm resulted from the midnight shooting, in 1976, at her $6 million showplace, off South Hulen Street. It cast a shadow over the rest of her life.
Her 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, and live-in boyfriend, Stan Farr, were fatally shot by an intruder. Mrs. Davis was shot once in the chest and Gus "Bubba" Gavrel Jr., a chance visitor to the mansion, was left paralyzed by a bullet in his spine.
Mrs. Davis insisted from the outset that the gunman was her estranged husband, Cullen Davis, then one of the richest men in America. A judge had ordered him that morning to increase Mrs. Davis' support payments to $5,000 per month and to pay her attorney's fees. Davis had earlier been barred, by court order, from going onto the property.
Mrs. Davis never wavered in identifying Cullen Davis as the man who shot her, but during his murder trial in Amarillo, her credibility was relentlessly attacked by his defense lawyers, who zeroed in on Mrs. Davis' freewheeling lifestyle.
Cullen Davis was acquitted in Andrea's slaying and was never prosecuted in Farr's death or in the shootings of Mrs. Davis and Gavrel.
Judy Johnson, one of Mrs. Davis' oldest and closest friends, said she was disappointed that her friend did not live to see justice served in the mansion shootings.
"It never left her mind for a moment," she said.
Stan Farr's sister, Lynda Arnold, a Denton County justice of the peace who is better known as Justin dude-ranch owner Texas Lil, recalls that Mrs. Davis "spent a fortune" on flowers delivered regularly to Stan Farr's grave.
"In spite of her terrible image, she was a very good and kind person," she said.
Part of the "terrible image" came from Mrs. Davis' delight in flouting the mores of conservative Fort Worth society. For example, three months before the shooting, Mrs. Davis was photographed wearing leather shorts, a halter top and a diamond-encrusted necklace spelling out the words "Rich Bitch" at the 1976 Colonial golf tournament. She was holding hands with Farr.
Born July 30, 1941, in Dublin, Mrs. Davis grew up in suburban Houston and graduated from Galena Park High School. She met Fort Worth car dealer Jack Wilborn, who became her second husband, in Houston, and moved to Fort Worth with him.
Wilborn, the father of Andrea, said his former wife was "generous to a fault," very open and totally unpretentious.
"If she was your friend, you couldn't have a better friend," he asserted.
Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' daughter from her first marriage, was once estranged from her mother but they grew close in the last decade. Mrs. Davis "had a past" and "wasn't Snow White," said Dee Davis, 42. But "I've never in my life known a person with a bigger heart. Her love would light up the whole world. She was very special."
Dee Davis was with her mother when she died at 5:40 a.m. Monday.
"I woke up at 4:10 and lay down beside her and talked to her and watched her literally take her last breath," she said. "I got to experience that with her."
The breast cancer had been publicly revealed in June on an Arts & Entertainment network program, Oil, Money ... and Murder.
"She said when her doctor gave her the news, she felt just like she did running through the field, bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest on the night of the shootings," moderator Bill Kurtis said at the end of the program.
Elsa Gonzales of McKinney met Mrs. Davis through an acquaintance, in common, five years after the shootings.
"She was a very special lady, a great human being," Gonzales said when she contacted the Star-Telegram about a recent fund-raiser to help defray the costs of Mrs. Davis' funeral.
"The one thing I really loved about her was that she never forgot where she came from. There was no prejudice in her whatsoever, and she was always helping people out."
Mrs. Davis moved to Dallas in 1982 and lived for several years on the proceeds of a divorce settlement she won from Cullen Davis.
In the late 1990s, she went to work at the Dallas Flower Market, Dee Davis said.
With her money long gone, Mrs. Davis had few worldly possessions at the end, Dee Davis said.
"Her photographs of family and friends were the only things left."
In addition to Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' survivors include a son, Jackie Wilborn Jr.; two brothers, David G. Childers and Paul R. Childers; and three granddaughters.
The family suggests that memorials be sent to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) - Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Parental links contributed by F.A.G. volunteer, Alexa (#47396428)
Priscilla Davis, the flamboyant socialite whose life was forever altered by a killer's bullet, one August night in her west Fort Worth mansion, died of cancer Monday at her Dallas home. She was 59.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sparkman Hillcrest Chapel in Dallas. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park.
Mrs. Davis, known to almost everyone as simply Priscilla, spent her adult life in the middle of one storm or another, often because of her flashy lifestyle and her disregard of convention.
But the greatest storm resulted from the midnight shooting, in 1976, at her $6 million showplace, off South Hulen Street. It cast a shadow over the rest of her life.
Her 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, and live-in boyfriend, Stan Farr, were fatally shot by an intruder. Mrs. Davis was shot once in the chest and Gus "Bubba" Gavrel Jr., a chance visitor to the mansion, was left paralyzed by a bullet in his spine.
Mrs. Davis insisted from the outset that the gunman was her estranged husband, Cullen Davis, then one of the richest men in America. A judge had ordered him that morning to increase Mrs. Davis' support payments to $5,000 per month and to pay her attorney's fees. Davis had earlier been barred, by court order, from going onto the property.
Mrs. Davis never wavered in identifying Cullen Davis as the man who shot her, but during his murder trial in Amarillo, her credibility was relentlessly attacked by his defense lawyers, who zeroed in on Mrs. Davis' freewheeling lifestyle.
Cullen Davis was acquitted in Andrea's slaying and was never prosecuted in Farr's death or in the shootings of Mrs. Davis and Gavrel.
Judy Johnson, one of Mrs. Davis' oldest and closest friends, said she was disappointed that her friend did not live to see justice served in the mansion shootings.
"It never left her mind for a moment," she said.
Stan Farr's sister, Lynda Arnold, a Denton County justice of the peace who is better known as Justin dude-ranch owner Texas Lil, recalls that Mrs. Davis "spent a fortune" on flowers delivered regularly to Stan Farr's grave.
"In spite of her terrible image, she was a very good and kind person," she said.
Part of the "terrible image" came from Mrs. Davis' delight in flouting the mores of conservative Fort Worth society. For example, three months before the shooting, Mrs. Davis was photographed wearing leather shorts, a halter top and a diamond-encrusted necklace spelling out the words "Rich Bitch" at the 1976 Colonial golf tournament. She was holding hands with Farr.
Born July 30, 1941, in Dublin, Mrs. Davis grew up in suburban Houston and graduated from Galena Park High School. She met Fort Worth car dealer Jack Wilborn, who became her second husband, in Houston, and moved to Fort Worth with him.
Wilborn, the father of Andrea, said his former wife was "generous to a fault," very open and totally unpretentious.
"If she was your friend, you couldn't have a better friend," he asserted.
Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' daughter from her first marriage, was once estranged from her mother but they grew close in the last decade. Mrs. Davis "had a past" and "wasn't Snow White," said Dee Davis, 42. But "I've never in my life known a person with a bigger heart. Her love would light up the whole world. She was very special."
Dee Davis was with her mother when she died at 5:40 a.m. Monday.
"I woke up at 4:10 and lay down beside her and talked to her and watched her literally take her last breath," she said. "I got to experience that with her."
The breast cancer had been publicly revealed in June on an Arts & Entertainment network program, Oil, Money ... and Murder.
"She said when her doctor gave her the news, she felt just like she did running through the field, bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest on the night of the shootings," moderator Bill Kurtis said at the end of the program.
Elsa Gonzales of McKinney met Mrs. Davis through an acquaintance, in common, five years after the shootings.
"She was a very special lady, a great human being," Gonzales said when she contacted the Star-Telegram about a recent fund-raiser to help defray the costs of Mrs. Davis' funeral.
"The one thing I really loved about her was that she never forgot where she came from. There was no prejudice in her whatsoever, and she was always helping people out."
Mrs. Davis moved to Dallas in 1982 and lived for several years on the proceeds of a divorce settlement she won from Cullen Davis.
In the late 1990s, she went to work at the Dallas Flower Market, Dee Davis said.
With her money long gone, Mrs. Davis had few worldly possessions at the end, Dee Davis said.
"Her photographs of family and friends were the only things left."
In addition to Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' survivors include a son, Jackie Wilborn Jr.; two brothers, David G. Childers and Paul R. Childers; and three granddaughters.
The family suggests that memorials be sent to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) - Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Buried February 22, 2001
Parental links contributed by F.A.G. volunteer, Alexa (#47396428)
Priscilla Davis, the flamboyant socialite whose life was forever altered by a killer's bullet, one August night in her west Fort Worth mansion, died of cancer Monday at her Dallas home. She was 59.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sparkman Hillcrest Chapel in Dallas. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park.
Mrs. Davis, known to almost everyone as simply Priscilla, spent her adult life in the middle of one storm or another, often because of her flashy lifestyle and her disregard of convention.
But the greatest storm resulted from the midnight shooting, in 1976, at her $6 million showplace, off South Hulen Street. It cast a shadow over the rest of her life.
Her 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, and live-in boyfriend, Stan Farr, were fatally shot by an intruder. Mrs. Davis was shot once in the chest and Gus "Bubba" Gavrel Jr., a chance visitor to the mansion, was left paralyzed by a bullet in his spine.
Mrs. Davis insisted from the outset that the gunman was her estranged husband, Cullen Davis, then one of the richest men in America. A judge had ordered him that morning to increase Mrs. Davis' support payments to $5,000 per month and to pay her attorney's fees. Davis had earlier been barred, by court order, from going onto the property.
Mrs. Davis never wavered in identifying Cullen Davis as the man who shot her, but during his murder trial in Amarillo, her credibility was relentlessly attacked by his defense lawyers, who zeroed in on Mrs. Davis' freewheeling lifestyle.
Cullen Davis was acquitted in Andrea's slaying and was never prosecuted in Farr's death or in the shootings of Mrs. Davis and Gavrel.
Judy Johnson, one of Mrs. Davis' oldest and closest friends, said she was disappointed that her friend did not live to see justice served in the mansion shootings.
"It never left her mind for a moment," she said.
Stan Farr's sister, Lynda Arnold, a Denton County justice of the peace who is better known as Justin dude-ranch owner Texas Lil, recalls that Mrs. Davis "spent a fortune" on flowers delivered regularly to Stan Farr's grave.
"In spite of her terrible image, she was a very good and kind person," she said.
Part of the "terrible image" came from Mrs. Davis' delight in flouting the mores of conservative Fort Worth society. For example, three months before the shooting, Mrs. Davis was photographed wearing leather shorts, a halter top and a diamond-encrusted necklace spelling out the words "Rich Bitch" at the 1976 Colonial golf tournament. She was holding hands with Farr.
Born July 30, 1941, in Dublin, Mrs. Davis grew up in suburban Houston and graduated from Galena Park High School. She met Fort Worth car dealer Jack Wilborn, who became her second husband, in Houston, and moved to Fort Worth with him.
Wilborn, the father of Andrea, said his former wife was "generous to a fault," very open and totally unpretentious.
"If she was your friend, you couldn't have a better friend," he asserted.
Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' daughter from her first marriage, was once estranged from her mother but they grew close in the last decade. Mrs. Davis "had a past" and "wasn't Snow White," said Dee Davis, 42. But "I've never in my life known a person with a bigger heart. Her love would light up the whole world. She was very special."
Dee Davis was with her mother when she died at 5:40 a.m. Monday.
"I woke up at 4:10 and lay down beside her and talked to her and watched her literally take her last breath," she said. "I got to experience that with her."
The breast cancer had been publicly revealed in June on an Arts & Entertainment network program, Oil, Money ... and Murder.
"She said when her doctor gave her the news, she felt just like she did running through the field, bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest on the night of the shootings," moderator Bill Kurtis said at the end of the program.
Elsa Gonzales of McKinney met Mrs. Davis through an acquaintance, in common, five years after the shootings.
"She was a very special lady, a great human being," Gonzales said when she contacted the Star-Telegram about a recent fund-raiser to help defray the costs of Mrs. Davis' funeral.
"The one thing I really loved about her was that she never forgot where she came from. There was no prejudice in her whatsoever, and she was always helping people out."
Mrs. Davis moved to Dallas in 1982 and lived for several years on the proceeds of a divorce settlement she won from Cullen Davis.
In the late 1990s, she went to work at the Dallas Flower Market, Dee Davis said.
With her money long gone, Mrs. Davis had few worldly possessions at the end, Dee Davis said.
"Her photographs of family and friends were the only things left."
In addition to Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' survivors include a son, Jackie Wilborn Jr.; two brothers, David G. Childers and Paul R. Childers; and three granddaughters.
The family suggests that memorials be sent to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) - Tuesday, February 20, 2001
Parental links contributed by F.A.G. volunteer, Alexa (#47396428)
Priscilla Davis, the flamboyant socialite whose life was forever altered by a killer's bullet, one August night in her west Fort Worth mansion, died of cancer Monday at her Dallas home. She was 59.
The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sparkman Hillcrest Chapel in Dallas. Burial will be in Hillcrest Memorial Park.
Mrs. Davis, known to almost everyone as simply Priscilla, spent her adult life in the middle of one storm or another, often because of her flashy lifestyle and her disregard of convention.
But the greatest storm resulted from the midnight shooting, in 1976, at her $6 million showplace, off South Hulen Street. It cast a shadow over the rest of her life.
Her 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, and live-in boyfriend, Stan Farr, were fatally shot by an intruder. Mrs. Davis was shot once in the chest and Gus "Bubba" Gavrel Jr., a chance visitor to the mansion, was left paralyzed by a bullet in his spine.
Mrs. Davis insisted from the outset that the gunman was her estranged husband, Cullen Davis, then one of the richest men in America. A judge had ordered him that morning to increase Mrs. Davis' support payments to $5,000 per month and to pay her attorney's fees. Davis had earlier been barred, by court order, from going onto the property.
Mrs. Davis never wavered in identifying Cullen Davis as the man who shot her, but during his murder trial in Amarillo, her credibility was relentlessly attacked by his defense lawyers, who zeroed in on Mrs. Davis' freewheeling lifestyle.
Cullen Davis was acquitted in Andrea's slaying and was never prosecuted in Farr's death or in the shootings of Mrs. Davis and Gavrel.
Judy Johnson, one of Mrs. Davis' oldest and closest friends, said she was disappointed that her friend did not live to see justice served in the mansion shootings.
"It never left her mind for a moment," she said.
Stan Farr's sister, Lynda Arnold, a Denton County justice of the peace who is better known as Justin dude-ranch owner Texas Lil, recalls that Mrs. Davis "spent a fortune" on flowers delivered regularly to Stan Farr's grave.
"In spite of her terrible image, she was a very good and kind person," she said.
Part of the "terrible image" came from Mrs. Davis' delight in flouting the mores of conservative Fort Worth society. For example, three months before the shooting, Mrs. Davis was photographed wearing leather shorts, a halter top and a diamond-encrusted necklace spelling out the words "Rich Bitch" at the 1976 Colonial golf tournament. She was holding hands with Farr.
Born July 30, 1941, in Dublin, Mrs. Davis grew up in suburban Houston and graduated from Galena Park High School. She met Fort Worth car dealer Jack Wilborn, who became her second husband, in Houston, and moved to Fort Worth with him.
Wilborn, the father of Andrea, said his former wife was "generous to a fault," very open and totally unpretentious.
"If she was your friend, you couldn't have a better friend," he asserted.
Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' daughter from her first marriage, was once estranged from her mother but they grew close in the last decade. Mrs. Davis "had a past" and "wasn't Snow White," said Dee Davis, 42. But "I've never in my life known a person with a bigger heart. Her love would light up the whole world. She was very special."
Dee Davis was with her mother when she died at 5:40 a.m. Monday.
"I woke up at 4:10 and lay down beside her and talked to her and watched her literally take her last breath," she said. "I got to experience that with her."
The breast cancer had been publicly revealed in June on an Arts & Entertainment network program, Oil, Money ... and Murder.
"She said when her doctor gave her the news, she felt just like she did running through the field, bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest on the night of the shootings," moderator Bill Kurtis said at the end of the program.
Elsa Gonzales of McKinney met Mrs. Davis through an acquaintance, in common, five years after the shootings.
"She was a very special lady, a great human being," Gonzales said when she contacted the Star-Telegram about a recent fund-raiser to help defray the costs of Mrs. Davis' funeral.
"The one thing I really loved about her was that she never forgot where she came from. There was no prejudice in her whatsoever, and she was always helping people out."
Mrs. Davis moved to Dallas in 1982 and lived for several years on the proceeds of a divorce settlement she won from Cullen Davis.
In the late 1990s, she went to work at the Dallas Flower Market, Dee Davis said.
With her money long gone, Mrs. Davis had few worldly possessions at the end, Dee Davis said.
"Her photographs of family and friends were the only things left."
In addition to Dee Davis, Mrs. Davis' survivors include a son, Jackie Wilborn Jr.; two brothers, David G. Childers and Paul R. Childers; and three granddaughters.
The family suggests that memorials be sent to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) - Tuesday, February 20, 2001
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