Ingeborg Barth Davis

ALTAMONT — Ingeborg Barth Davis, known to her family and friends as Inga, was a fun-loving florist. She died on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014, at The Manor of Guilderland Center, surrounded by her loving family. She was 84.

Mrs. Davis was born on May 22, 1930, in Albany, to the late Rudolf J. and Hildegard (née Hesse) Barth.

She was a lifelong resident of Altamont, graduating from Altamont High School in 1948.

Her parents owned a nursery, and she cultivated her love of flowers there.

“She loved flowers of all kinds, and, when she was 20, her parents built her a flower shop,” said her daughter, Jean Simmons, who is herself a florist.

She was the proprietor of Inga Barth Flowers from 1950 to 1994; her shop was located across from Tawasentha Park where the town’s parks office is now. 

“For many years she was the only florist in town,” said Mrs. Simmons. “She ran the shop and raised five children, but she still always managed to have a smile on her face.”

Mrs. Davis enjoyed curling, fishing, and traveling when she wasn’t gardening.

She once took her family on a six-week, cross-country trip, her daughter said.

Summers were always spent on a lake, most frequently Saratoga Lake.

She loved animals, and always had cats and dogs. She had a particular fondness for her dachshunds.

“She was just fun-loving, caring, and giving, with family and customers alike,” said Mrs. Simmons.

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Mrs. Davis is survived by her five children, Robert G. Davis, and his wife, Susan, Jean Simmons, and her husband, John, Heidi Zembo, and her husband, George, Paul Davis, and his wife, Barbara, and Mark Davis, and his wife, Cindy; her 13 grandchildren, Monica Martin, Joshua Zimmerman, Jennifer Ray, Justin Wemple, Patrick and Keary Simmons, Christine Schoeffler, Lauren Davis-Parker, Lindsay Nates, and Eric, Ryan, Michael, and Jack Davis; her 18 great-grandchildren, Nicholas Martin, Jacob and Joshua Ray, Kendall and Jett Zimmerman, Colten Simmons, Madison and Lidea Herrick, Logan and Chad Schoeffler, Jordyn, Hailey, Natalie, Charlotte, and Anthony Parker, and Aubrey, Sydney, and Dominic Nates; and her brother, Rudolph Barth, and his wife, Nancy.

Her former husband, Robert Davis, died before her.

Calling hours were held on Dec. 16 at the Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont. A funeral service was held on Dec. 17. Interment was in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Guilderland. 

To leave condolences for the family online, visit www.fredendallfuneralhome.com

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