"As a young man Sydney Davee worked very hard and did all kinds ofwork , mowed lawns, ran errands, shoveled snow, anything he could tomake a f ew dollars so he could help his mother to take care of thefamily. Whe n he finished school he worked in the coal mines. Whenthe war broke o ut he wanted to go fight so bad that he left home andwent to Kansas ci ty to sign up, but they found out he was too young.So they gave him mo ney and sent him back home to Joplin. But he wasthinking of his mothe r, that she could use the money, so he hopped afreight train, and it t hrew him under the train and cut off his rightarm at the shoulder. Th ey had to take part of the collar bone outtoo, then he was in for it, h e still did odd jobs. When he metJennie she got him to move to St. Lo uis, Missouri where she said herbrother would help him get a job. He m et a man there who found outthat Sydney was writing songs He wrote qu ite a few of them, but only2 were ever published to our knowledge. Th ese were ' That Old IrishMother of Mine' and ' Old Virginia.' Sydney w rote the words and hisbuddy wrote the music. Carrolyn Lounghborough h as the only copies ofthem. He was her Great Uncle."
There seems to be some discrepancies in the cause of Sydney's deathwhe n comparing the death certificate with family memories:
"He was murdered one night going home from work. He was hit in thebac k of the head by the butt of a gun, just as he opened the door tohis h ome. Rose tried to find out who killed him, but she never foundout. T he police never gave her any information on it. It was neversolved. T his was in 1930 and rose had no money to follow thru.Sydney was only 3 5 years old."
His death certificate states he died of Chronic Myocarditis.
The newspaper carried the following obituary:
"Sidney Davee, 35 years old, former Joplin resident and son of MrsRose D avee, 2208 Sergeant Avenue, died suddenly last night at hishome in St. L ouis, according to information received here. Death wasdue to heart d isease. Mr. Davee had been away from Joplin MO. forabout ten years. S urviving, besides his mother, are his widow, Mrs.Jeanette Davee of St L ouis, one brother, Glenn Davee, 2208 SergeantAvenue, and three sisters , Mrs. C. V. Smith, Mrs. Gladys Miller, MissMildred Davee, all of Jopl in. The body will be sent here for funeralservices and burial."
He was buried next to his parents.
