Obituary of Mick Davis

December 11, 1960 – Wentworth, New South Wales, Australia

October 7, 2024 – Calgary, Alberta, Canada

 

 

Michael (Mick) Norman Davis, beloved husband of Susan Davis, passed away on Monday, October 7, 2024, at the age of 63 years.

 

Mick was born in Wentworth, NSW, Australia, on December 11, 1960, to Gwen and Arch Davis, the youngest of four children. When Mick was young, his family lived at Ellerslie, New South Wales, a small settlement established by World War II returned soldiers of which his father was one. Ellerslie is located 21 miles north of Wentworth on the banks of the Darling River.

 

The family grew citrus, so he grew up picking oranges alongside the rest of the family. When he got a bit older, besides picking on the family property, he picked watermelons for a neighbour across the road to make pocket money. He always said, “It was a heck of a lot worse than picking oranges, but it paid.” Thus, at an early age, he had already learned the value of hard work and doing a job well; a lesson he would not forget over the years.

 

At the beginning of his formal education, Mick attended Ellerslie Primary School. When the time came to attend high school there was no secondary school in Ellerslie, so he had to go to Mildura. While in high school he lived with his grandmother during the week and went home to his parents most weekends. He developed a close group of friends in those years and maintained contact with several of them, even after he left the community.

 

A bit of a lad was Mick. The back door at home would squeak when opened and this alerted his mother to the fact he had come home safely at night and of course, let her and Arch know how late he had returned. One night according to Gwen, she didn’t hear the door squeak. The later it got, the more worried she became. The next morning, she got up to find Mick and his car were home safe and sound. When she challenged him as to the time he got home “Pretty early,” he said, “Probably around eleven.” “I didn’t hear the door” she replied, to which he answered, “No, I oiled it.” Anyone who knew Mick in those years, probably assumes he got home as the sun was coming up.

 

On leaving high school he obtained a diesel mechanic apprenticeship in Wentworth with the local town council. There he learned to fix everything from the town's small vehicles and tools to their roadworks equipment. He received his motor mechanic certification while employed there and now had the skills he would hone and use for the rest of his life in various positions and countries.

 

In 1984, he fathered a daughter, Jacqueline Lee, but the relationship with her mother did not last.

 

Mick then decided to spread his wings and see other parts of Australia. He took a mechanic position in Adelaide working for Matulic Construction. He stayed in this position for over a year but yearned for something more exciting. Eventually, he signed a contract with Bismark Earthmoving to work on Bougainville, Papua New Guinea maintaining their heavy equipment fleet. They were building roads in the jungle where none had been previously. He liked the excitement of living in a different culture and meeting people from various places around the world. When that contract expired, he signed on with other companies with projects in PNG: Rockdrill as a rig mechanic, and later Base Resources, a mining company. The New Guinea contracts were generally several months long with flights back to Australia for breaks.

 

While on Bougainville he made a friend who was an avid scuba diver and decided to take up the sport himself. This became a passion for many years. He dived everything from Japanese warplane wrecks in New Guinea, the Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, and other locations in Australia, as well as reefs in Cuba, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.

 

On one of the rotations when he should have been flying home the mechanic that was supposed to replace him did not show up and as a result, Mick had to work an extra long rotation. It was a long tiring stint and when his relief was finally hired, he was offered an extra long break which he gratefully accepted. With a massive paycheck due to all the overtime he’d worked he decided to explore a little of Northern Australia instead of going home to Wentworth. He headed for Darwin. Mick liked staying in hostels rather than hotels; you always met interesting people while staying in one. After a few weeks of exploring the area with new friends that he met at the local hostel, one of those friends suggested a trip across the Timor Sea to have a snoop around there.

 

Meanwhile, at the port of Brisbane, a Canadian backpacker was arriving from New Zealand on a sailboat only to find that what she thought was a perfectly good entry visa for Australia was in fact expired. Sue was told she had to be out of Australia in three days or less. When she investigated what the cheapest ticket out was, it turned out to be Darwin to Timor, Indonesia. The bus ride to Darwin was “only” 48 hours, so tickets were purchased and she and her friend headed there.

 

So, in the early hours of November 25, 1987, two pairs of travellers arrived at the Darwin airport ready to board a plane for Timor. It seems that both pairs noticed the other in the airport. The girls commented amongst themselves that the boys were obviously a couple of party boys going to drink their way across Timor, probably not caring one iota about learning about the culture and the beauty of the Indonesian way of life. The boys figured that those girls were a couple of secretaries going shopping for a week.

 

Although they happened to end up booking into the same hotel, the girls arrived first and were showered and sitting on the balcony facing the courtyard when the boys arrived. The mouthy Canadian quipped that it had taken the boys long enough to find the best lodgings in town. The cheeky Australian replied that they knew where the best restaurant and coldest/cheapest beer were to be had and that they had booked a boat to that island “over there” for the morning. Oh and, would the girls like to join them? He might have exaggerated a little so the next morning, as the sun was rising, there was Mick, walking the beach waiving an AU$20 bill in one hand and an English/Indonesian dictionary in the other. He booked his boat and as they say: the rest is history.

 

Up until that trip Mick had been Mike or Michael to everyone but he happened to be travelling with another Mike and, as in many Asian cultures, the first name was the family name in Timor. The two Mikes got tired of trying to explain that they were not brothers so one night they tossed a coin for which one of them would remain Mike and which would become Mick. Mike Davis became Mick Davis.

 

Mike Parnell was attracted to the Bavarian traveller Irene and talked Mick into agreeing to travel the same route the girls were travelling. Although nothing came of Mike’s pursuit of Irene, Mick and Sue had been thrown into proximity of each other for an extended period and gotten to know each other and it seemed, enjoy each others company. Thus, when Mike was ready to move on, Mick vetoed that and the foursome island-hopped from Timor to Sumba, Flores, Lombok, etc. They toured temples of multiple deities, batik and weaving factories, and coconut palm plantations, and explored night markets. As it turned out Mick was interested in the Indonesian way of life and culture. They arrived in Kuta Beach on Bali in late December and spent Christmas there that year. It was a Christmas that Mick reminisced about over the years.

 

Soon it was time for Mick to go home to Australia as his next shift in New Guinea was about to commence. Mick and Sue exchanged home addresses as travellers did in those days. There was no Facebook or even email. Sue and Irene travelled on to Java. Soon Sue decided that after three years of living out of a backpack, it was time to go home to Canada. Her brother was getting married so home she went.

 

For the next year, Mick continued working in New Guinea. Letters were exchanged with Canada and the two got to know each other from a distance. On one rotation Mick decided that enough was enough and told his mom that he was going to Canada to get a wife. The next day he bought an airplane ticket to Vancouver, BC, called Sue to let her know he was coming for a visit, and flew out a week later. He arrived March 28, 1989, and after a quick look around Vancouver jumped a Greyhound bus for Calgary, AB. Sue was working for a local restaurant chain and living at her mom’s house in Calgary. Mick and Sue’s mom, Mary, hit it off right away. She loved being regaled with Australian poetry by Banjo Paterson and introduced him to the Canadian poet Robert Service.

 

During the week while Sue was working, he explored Calgary and on her days off they would go out to the mountains and other surrounding areas. Eventually, he decided he needed something to do during the weekdays. Although he didn’t yet have a work permit his various skills, including being a mechanic, made it easy to find work under the table. Sue introduced him to the owner of the construction company that did maintenance for the restaurant chain she worked for. Not only did Tim hire him, but he and Mick also became lifelong friends.

 

At this point, Mick had decided it was time to ask Sue to be his wife. So, one night he asked Mary if he could have Sue’s hand in marriage, to which she replied that he was asking the wrong Baltgailis. Mick wanted Sue to meet his parents and wanted Mary to know his good intentions, so before taking Sue back to Australia he took her ring shopping and then took her home to meet his family.

 

They spent their second Christmas together at Mick’s parents’ house.

Eventually, they went back to Canada. Once again, they moved into Mary’s house while they worked and saved to buy their own home and plan a wedding. Not many potential sons-in-law could live with their mother-in-law for an extended period, but Mick loved Mary like a second mother, and she reciprocated those feelings. It was an easy, comfortable relationship.
 

On May 4, 1991, Mick made an honest woman out of Sue. The ceremony and celebration were held at the community centre down the block from the house she grew up in. In their typical style, Mick and Sue catered their own event. Mary hired staff to reheat the food items, servers to keep the buffet stocked, and a bartender. The beer was provided free by some of the beer companies’ sales representatives who Sue dealt with as a bartender at the downtown oil patch bar where she worked. Mick and Sue supplied the wine. Anyone who preferred spirits could bring their own and have their bottle behind the bar. A corkage fee had been paid so any mix desired was available. The wedding dress was designed and sewn by a childhood friend, Beth. They had decided the funds they saved, would be socked away towards the down payment for their future home.

 

At that time, Mick was working for Wildflower Construction, a company that was building golf courses in Southern Alberta. As a result, he had to spend a certain amount of time away from home. He left a specific list of what would be important to him when they purchased a property but left Sue to search for that perfect home. Eventually, she found a 911 square-foot house on a large lot that Mick would be able to build a garage-cum-workshop on and put in an offer. The only stipulation was that Mick had to approve of the choice when he returned on the weekend. They moved into their new home on November 1, 1991, with little or no furniture except a double bed.

 

The years flew by as they worked hard and played hard. Mick loved his family deeply; he made an effort to get back to Australia every three or four years. Those trips were filled with long drives to see as many family and friends as possible; John was in Geelong, Trish was in Mildura as was Jackie, Mom and Dad were in Wentworth, not to mention the friends of his youth scattered all around the region.

 

In other years Mick and Sue travelled to places like Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the USA. Eventually, they travelled to Europe. That trip included Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bavaria, Germany and Latvia. Most recently, in 2023, they spent several weeks exploring Vietnam and then travelled on to Australia. This would be his final trip home. Mick never lost his love of adventure.

 

In the late 90s he went to work for Inland Construction where he met another lifelong friend Gary. Gary loved the Saturday night stocks. There was a somewhat amateur race called the ENDURO (as in endurance because it was 250 laps of “if you’re not rubbing, you’re not racing.”) Mick enjoyed many a night pit crewing for Gary and loved it. It was all good until Gary let Sue take the car out for a 10-lap spin. When she came in, she declared “WE HAVE TO BUILD ONE OF THESE!” Now the summers turned into a blur of race the car, damage the car, fix the car, and repeat. One time the racetrack announcer admonished Mick “Don’t lean on your car, I think the paint’s still wet.” He’d been getting the car race ready until 1:00 AM and yes you could smell the paint.

 

By this time Mick and Sue had opened the second of the two bar and grills they owned together: The Flying Emu Australian Pub. He was still working full-time as a mechanic as well as being at Sue’s beck and call as “part-time maintenance man and host at the pub”. He may not have been on the payroll, but he did enjoy many a steak dinner on the house. As usual, his extraordinary personality made him popular with clients and staff alike.

 

It was also around this time that Jackie his daughter turned 18 and he suggested that she come for a visit to Canada. She took him up on the offer, so he sent the airfare and eagerly awaited her arrival. Since both Mick and Sue were working it made sense to train Jackie as a bartender and put her on the Flying Emu payroll. Mick was glad to finally get to know his daughter a little better and introduce her to his life in Canada.

 

During this period, he bought his first Harley Davidson: a “small” Dyna Glide. He had been at an auction (Mick loved going to auctions), and the Dyna came up. The high bid didn’t even make it to $6k. Going once, going twice … up went his hand with a $6k offer and it was his. He spent that summer refamiliarizing himself with riding but much to Sue’s chagrin the seat wasn’t big enough for her to ride on the back and he didn’t yet feel comfortable enough to carry a passenger. Luckily the next season he went to another auction and bought a nice big wrap-around seat, and they even threw an entire Electra Glide in with it. (Harley #2) Now Sue could jump on back and go with him. Eventually Mick decided to teach Sue to ride herself. He bought a small used Honda Shadow for her. After a couple of seasons on that bike, he decided she was ready for something with more power, so, he upgraded her to the Dyna. Alas, she found it uncomfortable. Now Mick was asked to change the handlebars to beach bars, the seat to a saddle style, and put a windshield on it. The poor man, no one ever worked so hard to turn a Harley into a Honda. Later she would replace the Dyna with a Softail (Harley#3). On a fateful trip through the Canadian Rockies when the weather went bad, they came around a bend in the highway where mud had been washed across the road and they both went down. The Softail survived but the Electra Glide was written off by the insurance company. It was replaced with an Ultra Classic (Harley #4). At yet another auction he spied a bright yellow custom stretched Victory Hammer. It was too beautiful to leave behind, so it came home with him that day. The bikes came and they went, but there was a bike or three parked in the garage for many years and many fun trips were taken into BC and Montana in the USA. He had realized his childhood dream of owning a beautiful bike(s). Later he would switch to a much lighter and nimbler Yamaha Striker. He was heard to say that riding a Yamaha was not near as embarrassing as not being able to pick up your 900-pound Harley if you drop it.

 

Many years after he and Gary stopped stock car racing, they were given a 1966 Chevy Chevelle Malibu project car by a friend. The engine had been updated but the body was basically a shell and several boxes of parts. Some of those parts weren’t even from the correct model of car. It was a bit like putting a jigsaw puzzle together but in the spring of 2024, they got ‘The Heavy Chevy’ on the road and to it’s first show and shine. This would turn out to be Mick’s last major project.

 

In April of 2009, he had received the most terrifying news of his life. During a routine medical inspection, his blood results showed elevated calcium levels. His family doctor quickly referred him to a hematologist. It was determined that he had a blood cancer called multiple myeloma. Next, he was referred to a myeloma specialist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. Dr. Bahlis gave him the bad news that the average survival rate would be 3 years. However, because he was relatively young and otherwise in good health, he would be a good candidate for several experimental drug trials. Thus started a 14-year journey with Dr Bahlis and his team. Mick went through many different treatments including a variety of drug regimes, a stem cell transplant and finally a Car T cell transplant. In the end after the Car T cell transplant, he was clear of the multiple myeloma. Unfortunately, after that victory, he was diagnosed with Leukemia. He lost that battle.

 

Mick was the best and kindest of men. There is no one whose life he touched that wouldn't agree. For all the health challenges that he faced in his long journey through multiple myeloma and then leukemia, he was always upbeat and kind to the caregivers he encountered and the people around him. It was amazing that he was able to, and made a point of learning and using the names of the people he encountered when he was in for appointments or blood tests, etc. (There were dozens of people over the years from doctors to porters.) Even at the end he made a point of asking the emergency and ward nurses and attendants their names and thanked them for their help.

 

This world is diminished by losing Mick Davis.

 

Besides his loving wife Susan Davis (nee Baltgailis) of Calgary, AB, Mick is survived by his daughter Jackie Burnett and grandson Jaxon of Mildura, NSW, Australia, sister Trish Whitchurch (Allan) of Mildura, NSW, Australia, brother John Davis (Marlene) of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, Australian nieces Belinda (David), Marianne (Nathan), Amanda, and nephews Norman and Brett (Mel). Mick is also survived by his brother-in-law Mike Baltgailis (Diane) of Calgary, AB, sister-in-law Karen Baltgailis (Les Luciuk) of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canadian nephew Brett (Kim) and niece Kassandra (Mike). Mick is also survived by numerous great-nieces and nephews.

 

Mick was predeceased by his brother Pete Davis, father Arch Davis, mother Gwen Davis, mother-in-law Mary Baltgailis and father-in-law Peter Baltgailis. 

 

A Celebration of Mick’s Life will be held at a later date.

 

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to Southern Alberta Myeloma Patient Society (SAMPS), PO Box 8165 Station A, Calgary, AB T2H 0H7, www.southernalbertamyeloma.ca/donate.

 

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Mick’s family here.

 

In living memory of Mick Davis, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Park Memorial, 5008 Elbow Drive SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2L5, Telephone: 403-243-8200.