Profile

by Rachél Martindale

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Davey Makes Multnomah
His Life Work

Fran Davey usually begins his mornings in his workshop, a building beside his house. He has built birdhouses for a wildlife refuge in Hillsboro since the 1960s. He and Mrs. Davey have also constructed projects from objects such as
PVC pipe and marbles. --Rachél Martindale, photo

On a gray, drizzly Friday morning, Fran Davey knelt on the warehouse floor, working with tools to attach a metal pigtail to a fluorescent-light fixture. "Fridays are sometimes like Mondays -- don't have a lot [to do]," he said. Mr. Davey knows the routine, having worked at Multnomah Bible College and Seminary for almost 40 years.

His daily routine includes time spent in his own workshop before heading to work.

The workshop is in the building beside the Daveys' house. He and his wife call the first room in the workshop the "funky room." It houses a large assortment of their creations: a tower-like birdfeeder made from PVC pipe with stones glued to it, a brass-like lampshade with shells dangling from the rim and an old steel mirror frame accented with marbles inside copper spirals. On nice days, the couple sits out there and works on projects.

The next room is Mr. Davey's workshop. A whiteboard covers most of the wall above the work table. The room is cozily cluttered with tools, wood and other items.

Around 7:45 a.m., he leaves the workshop and embarks on the four-minute walk to work.

Although Mr. Davey now works on the general maintenance crew, primarily performing work orders, he has done a bit of everything throughout the years: custodial, carpentry, locksmithing, welding, automotive repair, plumbing, grounds and painting.

Mr. Davey came to study at MBC in 1961 during the Vietnam War and earned his three-year certificate in 1964. On the day he graduated, he received a draft letter in the mail. He worked at MBC from June to October before leaving for basic training.

That fall, Liz Hauser, now Mrs. Davey, arrived to study at Multnomah. Mr. Davey went to Southeast Asia, serving in the Headquarters Company, 23rd Artillery Group for nearly one year.

After two years in the Army, he returned to Seattle and studied electronics and welding for a year-and-a-half. Then the man in charge of MBC's maintenance asked him to come back to work at MBC. He did so on April 1, 1968.

Miss Hauser was also part of the three-person maintenance crew, cleaning in the mornings and working in the school's print shop in the afternoons.

At first, the two talked only about business. Then on Aug. 17, 1968, in an act "strictly out of character for me," Mr. Davey said, he visited her apartment. He does not remember what they talked about -- it was so long ago -- but "before the night was over, we were engaged," Mrs. Davey said. The couple had their first date the next day.

Unknown to them, that weekend Mr. Davey's missionary sister in Bangladesh was at a prayer meeting and gave a prayer request that her brother would find a Christian woman. His sister at missionary candidate school had the same request. That was the only time they had prayed for this.

The Daveys were married Nov. 21, 1969. Nathan was born in 1971. Brian came the next year.

Five years later, the Daveys started taking in foster children, taking them as newborn babies and raising them until age 2.

"We had 63 babies in 12 years," Mrs. Davey said. "And this was before disposable diapers."

The whole family voluntarily helped with the childcare. Brian Davey said that his father was "quite involved" both with his sons and with the foster children.

The foster care supplemented Mr. Davey's income and also allowed the Daveys to help children. Brian said his parents were "very structured" with money because there was not much of it.

Growing up, Brian frequently saw his dad reading the Bible or commentaries. "[He] never seemed to lack books like that to thumb through and read," he said.

When their sons were towel boys for Multnomah's basketball team, the Daveys regularly invited one or two basketball players to Sunday dinner. They also let students in hard spots stay with them for extended periods.

"Between foster kids and college students," Brian said, "there [were] always extra people in the house."

Since Brian and Nathan moved out, things have continued as usual for the Daveys. They have attended Greater Portland Bible Church for 28 years. Mr. Davey has built birdhouses for a wildlife refuge in Hillsboro as long as Mrs. Davey has known him.

For the past 10 years or so, their friends, Bill and Marian O'Connor, have visited their house on Sunday evenings. Mrs. O'Connor, administrative coordinator for Multnomah Biblical Seminary, said it's easy to feel like one of their best friends.

Among other activities, the Daveys have run an upholstery business from their home for 20 years, with business spreading by word-of-mouth. Instead of pocketing the profits the business, they ask customers to write one check to cover materials and another check to a mission board of the Daveys' choice.

The couple reupholstered the sofa, loveseat and rocking chairs in their living room; they also remodeled the house itself. Mr. Davey built an upstairs above the living room and dining room, adding two bedrooms. He also built a first-floor addition with a laundry room, a bathroom and a stairwell to the basement (which previously opened only to the outdoors).

Mrs. Davey said that her husband could have found a better-paying job, but he felt he should be at home for his sons as they grew up. Furthermore, he views his job at Multnomah as a ministry. Besides, he could not beat the four-minute walk to work.

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