Celebrating Pine Islanders: Kathy Davis
Kathy Davis said one of the most important things about her, besides her love for hard work, like her work at the Beacon thrift store, is her love for her family.
“I love being a mom. My kids are my everything,” Davis said.
On most days, you are sure to find Davis working at the thrift store, as she is the manager, but she said she began volunteering at that same store when she was just in high school, to make accreditation hours for her graduation. Currently, Davis said, if she is not at the store, she might be driving for Uber or Door Dash. Hurricane Ian changed life for her in a major way, she said, making it impossible for her to make ends meet with only one job.
“I love my family, I love the island-I’ve lived here my whole life. Everything I do is either for my kids, for the Beacon or for the island,” Davis said.
Davis has a history on the island, she said, which goes back, on her maternal side, three generations, and four generations on her paternal side. Her family first came to Pine Island, in the 1970s, she said. Her parents-in law moved here when Pine Island still had dirt roads, she said.
“Back then, it was not even a concrete bridge, it was a wooden bridge on a spindle. My family’s been here forever. I’ve never lived anywhere else, except when I lost my home in Ian,” Davis said.
When it comes to the moment it hit Davis that Pine Island was her final destination, she said, it was when leaving after Hurricane Ian became an option due to her family having lost everything.
“It was a choice where we could either start over somewhere else or come home and I’ve never wanted to come home more in my entire life than I did right after I lost everything,” Davis said.
At this point in her life, Davis had not only her own 3 children, but had been given custody of 2 of her younger cousins, who were still teenagers, she said.
“So, I had 5 kids, and my husband and our pets,” Davis said.
After being relocated in Miami for 2 weeks, West Palm for 4 weeks, Okeechobee for another 2 weeks and Wesley Chapel for 4 months, it was decided the Davis family would be placed in either Alabama or Georgia A move of which she had no intention of conceding. After She was told she had no other option, she said the family left and came home to Pine Island, where she came straight to the Beacon.
“I showed up there that day without a single place to go and they helped me.” Davis said.
She admits the irony of the situation is that losing everything made Davis resolute in her desire to stay on the island, in an attempt to make sure she never lost in the same way again. She credits her history of volunteer work at the thrift store with the offer of her current job managing the store, for which she is still thankful. The beauty of the situation, she said, is that working at the thrift store allows her to help people on the island in much the same way she’s being helped.
“They helped me and now I get to help other people,” Davis said.
If she could make a wish for Pine Island, she said, it would be to stay the same island that it’s always been.
‘I want it to always feel like home,” Davis said.
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email