Mark Palmer, InterMat Senior Writer

7/17/2018

mark@intermatwrestle.com, Twitter: @MatWriter

Joy Davids, first woman to have been welcomed into the Michigan chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, passed away July 12, just days before her 86th birthday.

Joy Davids and her husband of nearly 70 years, Lee, were inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Michigan Chapter in a ceremony in East Lansing in Sept. 2011.

Born July 18, 1932 in Michigan, Joy and Lee established one of the first youth wrestling clubs in America. She volunteered thousands of hours over many decades organizing and running wrestling tournaments, going so far as to drive young wrestlers all over the country to compete.

"Thousands of wrestlers will remember Mrs. Davids as the kind lady that created wall charts and took pictures of them on the award stand at local, state, national and international events," according to the tribute in both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. "Dozens of young men and women called her "mom", and her legacy with these young people is unparalleled."

The couple also ran Davids Gold Medal Sports, a store for equipment for wrestling and other sports, located in Hazel Park just outside Detroit.

In a News-Tribune profile written at the time of their induction into the Hall of Fame, Joy and Lee Davids were described as "an integral part of the fabric of wrestling both locally and nationally for years."

"I've met so many nice people over the years," Joy Davids told the newspaper in 2011. "If your kids were with wrestlers, you did not worry about them."

Joy and Lee Davids raised five children. In addition to daughter Mary, there were four sons who all wrestled at Hazel Park High School - Mark, a Michigan high school state runner-up who went on to wrestle at Eastern Michigan University; Billy, a state champ, and two-time Big Ten and two-time NCAA All-American for University of Michigan; Johnny, who also wrestled for the Wolverines; and Tommy, a state champ who was the third Davids son to wrestle at the Big Ten school in Ann Arbor.

Services for Joy Davids were held Tuesday evening, July 17. 2018.