A giant in the history of education in the Indian Wells and Searles Valleys of California, Patricia (Pat) Louise (Alexander) Davis passed away on Sunday, September 22, 2024 at the Red Cliffs Post Acute Care Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. Pat, 89 years old, departed this world peacefully after a short illness, attended by her hospice nurse and family.
Pat was born on March 14, 1935 to Myron R. Alexander and Rosina Eleanor (Piquette) Alexander in Canon City, Colorado. She spent the first four years of her life in Westcliffe, Colorado where her father Myron ran the local newspaper.
In 1939, Pat and her parents moved to Winlock, Washington, where she assisted her father in his newspaper and printing business. Pat said that she learned her ABCs while typesetting. She spent the remainder of her childhood there.
Pat graduated high school in 1953 from St. Mary’s Academy in Toledo, Washington, and went on to obtain a pre-law degree in 1958 with a minor in Education from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. During her time at Gonzaga University she took a year to study at the University of Austria in Vienna, Austria. She took full advantage of that opportunity and toured Europe.
In 1958, at the age of 23, Pat arrived in the Indian Wells Valley from Gonzaga University. Her contributions to life in the High Desert of California began as a History and Honors English teacher at Burroughs High School (BHS). She was, at the time, BHS’ youngest teacher. While there she became the advisor for the El Burro yearbook and the school newspaper the Blockbuster and served as a guidance counselor. The 1960-61 El Burro was co-dedicated to Miss Patricia Alexander and Mr. Charles Vollmer.
While teaching at Burroughs she also worked as a freelance journalist for the local papers, the Rocketeer and the Valley Independent, as well as for the Sacramento Bee, the San Bernardino Sun, the Bakersfield Californian, and three radio stations.
In 1963 she took a year off to teach in Rotorua and Otorohanga, New Zealand. Upon returning from that adventure she met her future husband, noted China Lake Physicist Fred H. Davis, in 1965 on a blind date. Four days later Fred proposed, and Pat accepted saying, “What took you so long?” At the time Fred was the Head of the Devices and Techniques Branch of the Research Department at the Naval Ordinance Test Station (NOTS), China Lake.
On Saturday, July 10th, 1965, they were married at the NOTS All Faith Chapel, two months from the day they met. Shortly thereafter Pat and Fred settled down in what was to be their life-long home in the desert between Ridgecrest and Inyokern, the Amberglow Ranch.
In 1968 Pat, Susie Basden, and Cathy Hayes began teaching Continuation High School at the Grace Lutheran Church. Soon after, the forerunner of the Sierra Sands School District, the Kern Union High School District appointed her a coordinator and in the early 1970s made her the principal when it became the Sierra Sands District. With a teacher to student ratio of 1:15 the students flourished at what was to ultimately become Mesquite High School. Pat was instrumental in the effort to design and construct the current Mesquite facilities which were completed in 1978, the year after she left her position there as principal.
At Mesquite Pat was called the “Benevolent Dragon Lady” by the students, a nickname she claimed with pride. By the time she left Mesquite, it had grown from 18 to 170 students. The Medical Vocational class they started eventually became the nursing program at Cerro Coso Community College, and the Parenting and Child Care course pioneered there was one of the first of 13 such courses in the State of California.
After departing from Mesquite, Pat went to the Trona School District to be a Counselor and English Teacher. She eventually took over their Independent Study Program and the continuation school Desert Holly High School. Said Pat of her work as a counselor and head of the two continuation high schools “I just wanted to get the kids headed in the right direction.”
Upon her retirement in 1993, Pat was quoted as saying, “When I came to Burroughs High School in 1958 I was the youngest teacher. Now it’s time to leave it to the younger teachers. I prefer to go out while I can still stand.”
The Amberglow ranch, a 12-Acre pistachio farm with 1,700 trees, became the full-time employment of Pat and her husband Fred and when Fred passed away in 1993, she ran the Ranch single-handedly.
In May of 2023, after agreeing to the Indian Wells Valley Ground Water Authority (GA) requirement that she stop farming, and not wanting to see her Ranch wither and die, she sold Amberglow and went home to Colorado to enjoy her remaining time with her family.
Pat loved camping and traveled extensively with friends and family. Over the course of her life she traveled across the United States in her R.V., and visited China, Russia, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Turkey.
Pat loved to entertain, and hosted dinners, parties, events, galas, and weddings at Amberglow Ranch. Her Fourth of July and Christmas Parties were legendary, and her decorations for Christmas were dazzling.
Pat was a member of more than 33 years of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International: Delta Beta Chapter, and was involved in numerous community organizations including the Board of the Ridgecrest Regional (Community) Hospital, Altrusa, and the Woman’s Auxiliary to the Commissioned Officers Mess (WACOM). Pat received a Paul Harris Fellow Award from the Rotary Club of China Lake in recognition of her years of public service, both professionally and as a volunteer.
Pat was a devoted Christian and a member of the Saint Ann’s Parish in Ridgecrest, California. She was gregarious, generous, well-read, well-traveled, eccentric, adventurous, and being bigger than life. Pat loved her family, friends, students, and her dogs.
Following cremation, Pat will be buried next to her beloved Husband Fred in the Ula Cemetery in Westcliffe, Colorado. A Grave Side Service will be held at the Ula Cemetery in the spring of 2025.
