<bt>Dorothy R. "Dottie" Davis, who spent most of her 25-year government career as an administrative assistant in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Central Intelligence Agency, died Oct. 9, at her home in West Springfield, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 65.
Davis was born Dorothy Raye Keith on July 30, 1938, in Cowan, Tenn., and was raised on the family farm. The roots of her family’s Scottish clan extend through some of the most prominent members of the Founding Fathers from Virginia.
After moving to Virginia in 1957, Davis joined the CIA. She served on the team that provided President Kennedy with direct technical support during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. For this service, she received a Presidential Commendation.
At the end of her early career period at CIA, she also served as the administrative assistant to the Deputy Director for National Estimates, and she participated in the intensive staff work undertaken to create the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Davis helped establish the West Springfield Civic Association and served on its board for many years. She was also an officer in both the West Springfield Little League and the Springfield Babe Ruth League. In the schools her children attended, she worked as a classroom and office assistant and as a board member of the booster club at West Springfield High School. In recognition of her service to the community, she was made an Honorary Life Member of the PTA in 1980. She was also the first female member of the Springfield Golf and Country Club Board of Directors and played for more than 30 years in the community bridge club, which she helped found.
In 1986, Davis returned to the CIA, where she received numerous awards for outstanding performance. Never retiring, she worked until she was disabled by cancer.
Davis is survived by her husband of 40 years, Louis G. Davis, of West Springfield; three sons: Randall K. Davis of Oak Hill; Dr. Rodney T. Davis of Fredericksburg; and Bradley C. Davis of West Springfield; her grandchildren: Allison and Ryan of Oak Hill; and two sisters: twin sister Barbara Gist of Broken Arrow, Okla.; and Betty Logan of Memphis, Tenn. She was preceded in death by her brother, Henry Keith of Huntland, Tenn.