Remembering Nancy Emerson Davis
Carmichael Times, March 27, 2015:
Carmichael Times, April 3, 2015:
Milagro Centre Monument for “Fancy Nancy”
Carmichael Developer Loved Style and Community
Story and Photo by Susan Maxwell Skinner
Power couple Nancy and Allan Davis at the former Hillside shops on Fair Oaks Boulevard. Transformed, the mall will soon open as the Milagro Centre.
CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) – For Nancy Emerson Davis, Carmichael’s much anticipated Milagro Centre is both monument and legacy.
Nancy—the designer, developer, and visionary—was on the home strait toward opening the ambitious culinary center when she died. Milagro construction continues under the guidance of her husband and fellow developer, Allan Davis. Days before her funeral this week, Allan added a cameo of Nancy’s face to the arch spanning the center’s entrance. Like a guardian angel, her image will watch over the site. “When it’s finished,” predicts her husband, “visitors will appreciate that Nancy’s commitment to art, community, and great food was lifelong.”
Nancy was the second of four children born to builder Joe Benvenuti and his wife, Nancy Capizzano. The Italian-American family came west from New Jersey in the 1950s. In Sacramento, Joe began a development company that would shape Sacramento until his 2012 death.
Though Joe Benvenuti’s wealth and philanthropy grew to folkloric heights, early years were fuelled by much hard work and Italian cooking. Family and faith were everything: After Sunday church, his clan returned to a crowded Arcade duplex fragrant with Mama Nancy’s spaghetti and meatballs. The siblings studied at Creekside Elementary, Arden Middle School, and Encina High and recall being greeted by the aroma of mom’s meat sauces a block from home.
Like Sinatra’s “Nancy with the Laughing Face,” Nancy junior (“Fancy Nancy” to some friends) was already a schoolgirl in lace. Twice voted “best dressed” in high school, she enrolled at Salvatore’s Beauty School and then worked on hair and makeup at an Arcade salon. Her teenage marriage to Jack Emerson lasted 18 years and produced a son and daughter. At the time of her death, Nancy rejoiced in five grandchildren.
Her inherited flair for business—particularly real estate—and love for art nurtured a romance between Nancy and businessman Allan Davis. Though they attended Encina High together, the couple was unacquainted until their 40s. A first date to watch the Sacramento Kings was auspicious. Allan adored the team, and Nancy’s dad part-owned them. “She loved the Kings,” Allan recalled. “For 20 years, she barely missed a game. She was their most avid fan, even if she was too ladylike to yell from the sidelines.”
The couple ran an antique and home accessory emporium in downtown Sacramento for 10 years. In 1989, they fell in love with a Carmichael adobe ranch house. A vestige of town founder Daniel Carmichael’s first colony, the 100-year-old dwelling became a work-in-progress for the rest of Nancy’s life. In a painstaking quest for perfection, Casa Nancy’s courtyards and colonnades were still being repaved when its mistress died. “The house was central to her happiness,” observed Allan. “She loved its solitude and gardens, but the kitchen was its heart. When she cooked, the house smelled wonderful. She loved to eat and to find fun places to eat out.”
At Christmas, Nancy assumed a matriarchal role with all relatives under one roof. Ornaments and illuminations were legendary. “Our lights went up in October,” recalls Allan Davis. “It took until December for Nancy to have the decorations perfect.”
Other than family, her great love was fashion and design. “Nancy’s taste was always strongly stated,” noted her husband. “She never just threw clothes on; she dressed to perfection for every occasion. The twist Nancy put on what she wore was remarkable; she chose the biggest, most dramatic earrings. I could fill a museum with them.” Glittering crucifixes that accented anything from necklaces to T-shirts were not just Gothic bling. “Nancy maintained a strong spirituality,” says her husband. “She knew her Bible. There were lively religious discussions at family gatherings. She didn’t limit friendships to people of the same faith; she was simply drawn to spiritual people. If she wasn’t at church on Sunday, she’d watch a TV service.”
An affluent team, the Davises gave back: Their support for Capital Christian Center recently helped build a new sports complex for its school. The Little League, local schools, and the Jewish Federation enjoyed the couple’s largesse. The Carmichael Chamber of Commerce last week recognized the benefactors’ support of community by naming their company, Milagro Properties, the 2015 Carmichael Business of the Year.
Neighborhood kids knew Allan and Nancy as a soft touch. “I’d come home with Girl Scout cookies and find Nancy had already bought a ton of them,” says Allan. “We always had more cookies than we could possibly eat.”
Over their 30-year partnership, the couple’s business interests included apartment complexes, commercial buildings, and refurbishments of the many run-down Carmichael properties they acquired. “Nancy didn’t do anything halfway,” says her husband. “She hated anything to be a blot on the landscape.” The Milagro Centre—once a dowdy strip mall near the Fair Oaks and Marconi junction—is a final testament. The Davises purchased the foreclosed premises in 2011 and began planning a Napa-style hub to revitalize the main street of Carmichael.
Filled with up-scale culinary vendors and fabulous design, the center will offer a daylong eating, drinking, and gathering space—with the Nancy Davis signature in every corner. “Our dream was to set the bar high,” Nancy recently explained. “We’re establishing a standard for how we hope Carmichael will look 50 years from now.”
With its wide arch and 22 mature palm trees, the Milagro (Spanish for miracle) Centre is already a Fair Oaks Boulevard landmark. “Typically of Nancy, she had the trees lit up the minute they were planted,” said her husband.
“She loved lights and she loved Carmichael. She wanted it to look amazing. At the Milagro Center, her love for community—and lights—will shine forever.”
EMERSON-DAVIS, Nancy Nancy Emerson Davis, born Jan. 8, 1945 in East Orange, NJ, passed away March 19, 2015 in Sacramento. Wife of Allan Davis, loving mother of Brian Emerson (Kimberley), and Tricia Alvarez (Abdiel), loving grandmother of Zachary Emerson, Micah, Devon, Jonah and Jaidyn Alvarez, step mother of Cody and Clay Davis, and step grandmother of Madison Parks. Also survived by sister Lynda Taylor (Chris), brothers Richard (Kathy) and Gary Benvenuti (Martha), and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. Preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Nancy Benvenuti. Nancy graduated from Encina High School in 1962, where she was voted “Best Dressed”, acquired many lifelong friends, and served on the reunion committee for many years. After attending American River College, Nancy pursued her interest in cosmetology by graduating from Salvatore’s Beauty School and working at EJ’s Beauty Salon. Nancy always had a passion for decorating and design, using her talents extensively through real estate developing and investing. Her latest project, Milagro Centre in Carmichael, exemplifies her flair for thinking “out of the box”. Following her mantra “Love liberates; it doesn’t bind, if you get…give, if you learn…teach”, Nancy was devoted to many charities throughout the Sacramento area including Benvenuti Field at Capital Christian Cen-ter. She travelled extensively through out Carmichael and parts of the greater Sacramento area, later striking out to Napa and occasionally the Bay Area. Nancy’s attendance will truly be missed at her grandchildren’s numerous soccer and basketball games. Most important to Nancy was her devotion to her Christian faith; she knew that she would live on in Heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Services will be held at Capital Christian Center, located at 9470 Micron Ave in Sacramento, Sunday March 29 at 2:30pm.