SOUTH PORTLAND — Erla Davis dedicated her career as a social worker to helping others in various capacities.

"Her passion has always been civil rights and civil justice," said her sister Carlyn Watts.

Mrs. Davis died Tuesday at the age of 71.

After earning her social work degree from Colby College, the Bar Harbor native packed her bags for New York City in the early 1960s to join St. Christoper's Chapel on the Lower East Side in its mission to help low-income minority youths.

"It was sort of the East Side version of 'The West Side Story,' only with real knives, real guns and real problems," her sister said.

"It was right in the middle of the civil rights movement, with Martin Luther King Jr. and all that stuff. She graduated the top of her class and she could have done anything, but she had to be in the thick of things."

As Mrs. Davis continued working with youths, she used her connections back in Maine to help them see what life was like outside New York City. Her sister said she persuaded the Episcopal diocese of Maine to let her bring a vanload of youths to a church camp in Maine for a week.

"Considering the time, that was quite a project. It was a wonderful experience on both sides," she said. "Some of these kids had never been out of the ghetto."

Around the same time, her brother Dana Cleaves was attending Trinity College in Connecticut.

"She called me and said, 'I've got a dozen teenagers who have never been to a private college before. Do you think I could bring them up?'" he said.

Knowing that his fraternity was planning a party for the next weekend, he persuaded his brothers to host the group of teenagers.

"They saw what it was like on campus," he said. "She made a difference in a lot of people's lives."

Mrs. Davis returned to Maine after her husband died in the 1980s, to be closer to her siblings and elderly parents. Having received her master's degree while still living with her adoptive children in Toronto, she began working as a social worker in the cardiac unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Her brother said she was in charge of helping patients transition from hospital back home or to an assisted-living facility.

Her sister said Mrs. Davis didn't retire until June of 2008.

"She said to me once, 'If you have to have this dreadful disease (breast cancer), the best place to work is Maine Medical Center," she said. "'And the best place to worship is St. Luke's Cathedral.' They were so supportive of her."

During her free time from work, Mrs. Davis was very active in the parish at St. Luke's Cathedral in Portland. She volunteered with the church's soup kitchen, which her father had started, and served the community that supported her.

For fun, she would organize trips back to New York City. Her sister said Mrs. Davis took her, along with her great-nieces, to New York one Christmas season to hit all of the high points – the "Nutcracker," the American Girl doll store, Rockefeller Center and, of course, shopping.

When she didn't travel to New York, she traveled to visit her children, still living in Toronto. Her daughter Rachel Davis is a figure-skating coach who has taught Mrs. Davis' 17-year-old grandson, Shaquille.

"She recently, even though she was ill, traveled to see him in a competition," her brother said.

"He's working his way up. We're sure he'll be in the Olympics," her sister said. "He was definitely Erla's pride and joy."

Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:

ebouthillette@pressherald.com