H. Colene Davenport

Hester Colene Davenport passed away peacefully and comfortably in her home, surrounded by her loving family on August 11, 2012 after a courageous 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. A celebration of her life will be held Thursday, August 16, 11:00 a.m. at Nampa First Church of the Nazarene, 601 16th Ave. South, Nampa. Services are under the direction of Accent Funeral Home, Meridian. Colene was born on May 30, 1948 in Nampa, Idaho to Kenny and Jeanette Chaney. She was educated in Nampa and graduated from Nampa High School in 1966. She was very active in the Nampa Swim Team, life guarded and taught swimming lessons every summer during her Junior High and High School years. She loved playing the piano and took lessons for many years. She graduated from Nampa High School in 1966 and earned her college degree in education from Northwest Nazarene College. She was a cheerleader while attending NNC and later became a cheerleading coach for High School Cheerleading Camps. After High School, she married a classmate, Gary Hills and they had a son, Christopher. Later they divorced and she married the love of her life, Lee Davenport, on August 23, 1974. After a few years, their daughter Megan was born. While maintaining her home, raising two children, and teaching full time, she received a Masters degree in English from NNU. She taught Middle and High School English for 35 years at Nampa Christian, Job Corp and Nampa Arts Charter School, where she retired in 2011. During her teaching career, she was honored as Teacher of the Year. She had unconditional love for all her students, developed life time relationships with many of them, and created many long lasting memories with her family of teachers. She was loved and admired by all those she taught and many of them called her “Mom”, best friend and faithful prayer partner. Colene was a very loyal and devoted wife to her husband, a doting mother to her children, best friend to her sisters, and a confidant and mentor to her nieces and nephew. Her grandchildren were the light of her life and she always looked forward to spending time with them and was anxiously waiting to meet her first great grandchild. She was a dedicated member of First Church of the Nazarene, where she was actively involved. Her strong faith in the Lord was demonstrated in the way she lived her life and in the tenacity with which she fought her battle with cancer. Colene is survived by her husband Lee, of 39 years; son, Christopher (Maricela) Davenport; daughter, Megan (Chris) King; seven grandchildren; one great-granddaughter on the way; sisters: Toni Kris (Kirk) Clarich, Carolyn Reader; one nephew; three nieces; numerous great nieces and nephews, aunts, cousins, and a few hundred friends. She was preceded in death by her father, mother, step-father and step-brother. Colene's legacy will live on through the lessons and values she taught her children and grandchildren. She will be greatly missed but we know there is a joyous celebration going on right now in Heaven. The family would like to express their deep gratitude to St. Alphonsus Cancer Care Center, Legacy Hospice, especially Mo and Harold, and for all the friends that brought over food and showed their support. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made to the American Cancer Society, 2676 Vista Avenue Boise, ID 83705. Remembrances for the family may be left at www.AccentFuneral.com