Feb 3, 2008 By Steve Ferris 6 min read

Family and friends of Miles A. Davin Sr. of Waynesburg said he was skilled in many trades, active in the community, proud of his family and a role model. Davin, 80, died early Thursday in the Donnell House in Washington following a long battle with cancer.

“It was his time. He was pain-free at the Donnell House and that’s all we could ask for,” said his wife of 57 years, Ruth Davin. “He died in his sleep comfortably.”

Among his many talents were painting, writing, woodcarving and construction, she said.

He also was active in the Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Department and St. Ann Roman Catholic Church.

“He could build a house or paint a picture and everything in between. He loved to sing and dance,” Ruth Davin said. “He had his fingers in a lot of pies. He was a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. He could have made a living at any, but he liked to tinker around.”

A native of Collier in Fayette County, Davin graduated from Waynesburg College with a degree in business and settled in Waynesburg.

He worked as a tax consultant, substitute teacher, contractor and little league football coach; owned a furniture stripping business; and was a pilot. He also wrote columns about local history for the Greene County Messenger and Herald-Standard.

A veteran who served in the Navy during World War II, Davin made a wooden statue of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene, a commander in the American Revolutionary War and for whom Greene County was named, that sits atop the county courthouse.

Ruth Davin said she and her husband have four grown children, three sons and a daughter, who live in the county, and seven grandchildren.

“He was proud of his family. His family will be with him to the end,” she said.

One of their three sons, Keith Davin, said his father and many other fathers of his era were wonderful role models for children.

“They were tremendous role models for us. They came of age around World War II. It had a certain effect on all those guys that grew up around World War II. They had that can-do attitude,” he said. “They had pride and optimism about life. There were so many good role models growing up around that time, my dad was one of them. It makes you remember how lucky we were to have grown up in that time and have wonderful parents.”

He said his parents took him and his brothers and sister to activities such as square dances, Christmas parties at the fire department and picnics.

“Back then, they were simple pleasures. Being together and doing things together,” Keith Davin said.

He said it was amazing that his father was such a good parent, because he was orphaned as a child after his parents died in a bus accident. He said his father was raised by his grandmother.

Davin said his father coached the Little League East End Wildcats football team for more than 20 years, even after he and his brothers outgrew the league. He said his father stored the equipment in his garage.

“He was a pretty good running back for Uniontown High School,” his son said.

Craig Conklin also played for the Wildcats under Davin’s tutelage.

“He used to ride the team and cheerleaders around in his red pickup truck after games and get us ice cream,” Conklin said.

Davin created a trick play he called “The Sleeper,” in which a receiver would pretend to be talking to the coach near the sideline and then run a deep pattern.

“It scored a lot of touchdowns,” Conklin said.

He remembers going to the sideline after getting the wind knocked out and the team got penalized on the next play for not having enough players on the field.

“He said, ‘What’s wrong with you, Conklin? You can be hurt later,'” Conklin said.

Davin was more than a coach to many of the players on his team, he said.

“He was a great guy. He shaped a lot of young guys’ lives. He taught us more than just football. He was father figure to a lot of us,” Conklin said.

Steve Barrett, managing editor of the Messenger, said he would remember Davin as a friend and a good writer.

“It was an honor and a pleasure to have had the opportunity to work with Miles over the years,” Barrett said. “He was not only a wonderful writer, he was a good, kind and decent person who truly loved Greene County and loved sharing all of his memories of growing up here with his readers. His warmth and unique sense of humor really shined through in his column, which is why he had such a large number of faithful readers who loved his work. I’m sure I speak for many, many residents when I say that he will be greatly missed. With his passing, Greene County lost a dear and personal friend.”

John Lovingood of Holbrook, owner of the Eagle One Aviation flight school at the county airport, said Davin loved aviation and helped him save the airport.

He said the county commissioners were considering selling the airport about 12 years ago. Davin helped him establish the Airmen’s Association, which held “Aviation Days” at the facility. During the weekend-long events, pilots gave free plane rides to 300 to 400 children, and the media exposure helped derail the commissioner’s plans to sell the property, Lovingood said.

“Without guys like Miles Davin, I wouldn’t have been able to save the airport,” he said.

He said Davin taught some of the flight school classes and was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s chapter in the county.

Davin lost his pilot’s license several years ago because of health problems and owned a plane many years ago, Lovingood said.

“His last flight was with me last summer,” he said.

Lovingood said he helped Davin place the Nathanael Greene statue at the courthouse.

“I remember him as a giver to the whole county and aviation in general. He just wanted to help out anyway he could,” Lovingood said.

Tara Kinsell, an administrative assistant at the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency, which is located at the airport, said Davin used to regularly stop in and chat.

“He was just a very, very good man. He was always full of life,” Kinsell said. “He’d come in and talk sports. The airport was one of his many daily stops. He had genuine concern about what was going on in my life.”

She said she also worked with Davin when she was the sports editor at the Messenger.

“He was a wonderful guy,” Kinsell said.

Friends will be received in the Milliken and Throckmorton Funeral Home, 197 N. Maiden St., Waynesburg, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. today. A prayer service will be held in the funeral home at 10:30 a.m. Monday, followed by a Christian Burial Mass in St. Ann Roman Catholic Church in Waynesburg at 11 a.m. Burial will be in the St. Ann Cemetery.