A husband is mourning his wife of 25 years after their home caught fire. The night after Christmas, Robert Earl Davis and his wife Diane awoke to a fire at their Jolee Road residence.
“We were in separate rooms when it happened because, see, we don’t like to watch the same television,” Davis told KLTV. With just two doors to escape, Davis said he began yelling for Diane but received no response.
He recounted, “I am thinking she’s gotten out. I am getting whooped by this fire and I go out the back. She’s always on the couch by the front door so I rush to the front and she’s not outside.”
It dawned on Davis that his wife of 25 years was trapped in his house and that he was just about to lose her to the fire.
Davis, who shines shoes, is hailed by the people of Henderson City as genuine, kind and sweet. He shared, “I love shining shoes. Not because of the money, but because of the outlet it gives me to meet new people and be a part of the community.”
According to Davis, he was asked to leave the gas station where he had been shining shoes for years back in 2023. He later went to Uppercut Barber Shop on Main Street.
Nonetheless, the widower claims that many people do not realize how much his wife supported him. He said: “I’m adjusting, but people don’t know my wife is who drove me all around town, so I can even shine shoes, so without her I have no clue what I’m going to do.”
Diane Wofford Davis will be buried at Spring Chapel CME Church, 23486 FM Rd 838 near Overton, on January 11 at 1 p.m.
A GoFundMe has been established to assist Davis in getting back on his feet.
Davis admits, “I would trade places with her right now, but I can’t. She was my heart. I didn’t realize how much I loved her until now.”
The Overton Fire Department reports that they are currently looking into what started the fire.
