Uncrowned Community Builders

Juanita Winrow Davis is referred to as an Oklahoma Community Service Pioneer because of her ability to lead others. Born in a little town called Earlsboro, Oklahoma, on December 8, 1921 to Jackson and Ida Winrow, she was next to the youngest in a family of 14 children. At an early age, her parents instilled in her the principles of working hard, sharing her talents and providing for others. She attended school at Douglass Elementary School in Earlsboro and Dunbar High School in Shawnee. Shortly after high school, she moved to Oklahoma City to pursue job opportunities. Her transition from living on a 180-acre farm to Oklahoma City is evidence that she was no stranger to hard work.

At the age of 24 she married the love of her life, the late Earnest L. Davis who became a successful builder of homes in Oklahoma City until the early '90's. As he pursued his career, Juanita developed a number of community interests while raising 7 children. She continued her education by taking interior decorating classes to complement the work of her husband, attending communications classes at Rose State College, and studying English Literature at the University of Oklahoma.

Following her interests, Juanita co-founded the first professional modeling club, Les Mannequins Club, in Oklahoma City in 1959. These beautiful young ladies were said to be better than the Ebony Fashion Fair models at that time. The club, under the guidance of Ms. Davis, established the first charm school of modeling and grooming in Oklahoma City. The goals of the school included teaching young people how to dress for success, especially, as they sought employment. Between 1959 and 1971, Mrs. Davis and the Les Mannequins Club showcased Oklahoma City's fashionable young ladies and gentlemen in more than 50 fashion shows and trained more than 100 people in good grooming on a weekly basis. In the late '60's, Mrs. Davis and the Les Mannequins models were featured in a two page story in one of the major newspapers, The Oklahoma Journal. becoming the first organization of color to have received such coverage in the state of Oklahoma.

Juanita, always seeking to help young people, founded the "Miss Love" beauty pageant to raise money to provide scholarships for high school juniors and seniors. The pageant provided scholarships for more than 30 students. From the pageant, she continued to pursue her interests in young people by adding a youth component to the successful Oklahoma Achievers program that she established in 1984 as a financial engine to fund the Metropolitan Better Living Center, an Adult day care center, founded and established by her.

In the late '60's she took an interest in helping people with special needs. It became her dream to take care of these people but recognized that it was a ministry and began looking for a church that had the same interests. She became a member of the Tenth Street Seventh Day Adventist Church and began to pursue her dreams with the blessings of her church. She was employed by the Community Action Program agency and began working in the Community Services Department at her church doing outreach in the community. In love with the work that she did, she excelled and was successful in everything she did. People began calling her "Mrs. Community Services" and recognizing her for her efforts. She was the cover story for the Southwestern Union Record, a Seventh Day Adventist publication covering Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas, in 1996. The story acknowledged her for having started the Tenth Street Better Living Center (a.k.a. Metropolitan Better Living Center) with only two participants and growing it to the point of acquiring an 8,000 sq. ft. facility that houses 45 people and leases space to two other small businesses. She has received numerous awards including the prestigious Light Bearers award given by the Southwestern Regional Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, twice. The Outstanding Aging Network award, Life Time Achievers award from the Metropolitan Better Living Center, Symphony of Services award given by the Oklahoma Senior Nutrition Program, Keeper of the Dream award given by the Ebony Tribune and is a three time recipient of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services "Outstanding Achievement Award in Aging" award given to a person who has made the most difference in the lives of Oklahoma seniors during the year.

Mrs. Davis survived major cancer surgery at age 82 and is cancer-free today, living independently, driving herself to her beloved Metropolitan Better Living Center where she writes grants and volunteers every week.

She loves to cook, create cookbooks, write poetry, decorate and design the interior of homes, and is talented in arts and crafts of all kinds including quilting. Juanita knows that God is the author and finisher of all good things and it is by His grace and mercy that she lives! Helen Keller said it well for Mrs. Davis, "I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty and joy to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble."