St Clouds & Coonyham

Laura Cunningham, Breeder Member, California

Nancy Davenport sold us our first Maine Coon kitten. We’d driven six hours from Northern California to her home in Culver City to buy a pet Maine Coon on Memo rial Day weekend 1989. We just wanted a male silver tabby of some kind – had no idea what patterns were or what «with white meant. Nancy had 13 kittens available (Moonshine had been very busy) but only two were both male and silvered (both were blue silver mackerel tabbies with white). While we decided which kitten to choose, one of Nancy’s females went into labor. In an interesting coincidence, St Clouds Serenade deliv ered four kittens while we waited and we saw St. Clouds Buckwheat and St Clouds Burnt Sugar when they were just minutes old. Burnt Sugar later grew up to be a lovely female, had a hot date with Willowplace Starbuck and we were fortu nate enough (ok, we begged… a lot!) to be gifted with our lovely SGC St Clouds Cheyenne of Coonyham, OD, picture.

Silver Shadow (pictured) was a very dramatic, striking kitten. Nancy asked us if we’d consider showing him and when we agreed, she gave us a quick grooming I first met Nancy when I was assisting her with a Maine Coon rescue situation in Los Angeles. Over the years we forged a great friendship. I spent many nights talking with Nancy about some of her cat show escapades. She very much enjoyed showing her cats and the friendships she made along the way. When St Clouds Starfire presented me with his last litter, Nancy was in the hospi tal for a breathing issue. I was not sure she was up to the surprise, but I made the journey to LA with photos in hand. Nancy and I were in the gift shop talking about cats, when one of the gift shop associates asked us what a Maine Coon looked like. Nancy attempted to tell the associate what a Maine Coon looked like when I an nounced I had pictures of some Maine Coon kittens. I brought them out and when Nancy saw them she looked at me and demanded to know where I got these kit tens. She thought I got them without discussing them with her. When I told her they were Starfire’s, she started to cry and said they were tears of joy because her lines will be carried forward.

On Diamond Lil’s 16th Birthday. I had a cat food cake made and we had a birthday party complete with hats and horns. I told Nancy the one thing I wanted was a professional photo of herself and Lil. Nancy told me I could take Lil to get her picture taken but she was not going to be in the photo. Several weeks and discus sions later, I took Lil to a show to get her picture taken and was so proud of my self for the guilt trip I laid on Nancy to get her to agree to be in the picture. When the proofs arrived, I showed them to Nancy and told her I was going to put this picture on the front page of a web page and call it Two Old Broads. Nancy, as usual had to have the last word, and corrected me, the title should read Two Grand Old Broads!

Nancy was a great mentor and I will miss our discussions about the loss of boning and breadth of chest in our breed. I think the one thing she would want to pass onto other breeders is to strive to maintain the wonderful personality of these lesson and later sent detailed instruc tions on exactly how to show a kitten – from cage curtains to show eti quette. She was so helpful and thor ough and ensured our first show ex periences were enjoyable. She cheered us on – every step of the way.

Once we decided to move to the next step beyond showing – breeding, Nancy sold us a proven queen (Sierra Nevada) and recommended a breeder friend of hers for us to con tact for a second female. She was our MCBFA sponsor and remained close to us. Her eye for type and potential was phenomenal – she could determine from a glance the pick of any litter. Nancy’s lines were so helpful to other breeders who needed great temperaments, large ears, lovely coats and clear silver coloring. You could tell just by look ing which cats at a show had St Clouds in their backgrounds.

We still have our cherished Rhiannon – daughter of Silver Shadow and Si erra Nevada (pictured), who with those gorgeous green eyes and sweetheart ways is our daily reminder of Nancy and her magnificent cats.

Willowplace On Nancy & How Many Famous Maine Coons Came To Be Barbara Ray, Willowplace cattery, South Carolina

Nancy and I officially met at the TICA Incats Madison Square Garden show in 1986.Nancy was showing a Diamond Lil daughter and I went to find her after her cat had three calls to the ring. We struck up a conversation and enjoyed each other’s company. We continued to keep in touch and met at shows from then on and became the best of friends forever.

Often we did not meet but three or four times a year as I live on the east coast and Nancy on the west coast. I visited Nancy’s home several times. She lived in what I call a Frank Lloyd Wright style home, high in the hills of Los Angeles. She lived there with her beloved son Mark, who was grown. She told me she had selected the house because it was very near Mark’s school. At the time we met, she was head of social services for Los Angeles County. She was a psychologist and often gave her time to people who needed help.

There were always beautiful cats walking around the house and Napa Valley Moonshine, Nancy’s stud, lived in the sunroom which was in the center of the house and near everybody. In 1989, Nancy sent her Saint Cloud’s Burnt Sugar to breed my Willowplace Starbuck and had Saint Cloud’s Starfire that she also kept as a breeding male and several other outstanding kittens from that litter. Laura and Sharon Cunning ham, Coonyham cattery, purchased a beautiful brown classic female, Saint Cloud’s Cheyenne of Coonyham,from that litter.

She had a favorite restaurant, a Mexican restaurant that friends of hers owned. At the time it was the best Mexican food I had ever eaten. When I was visiting her sometimes we would go two nights in a row. Whatever we did we always had a good time and laughed a lot. Nancy sent several outstanding Saint Clouds kittens to Europe for breeding. Some of those breeders had some contact with me and I know she was very well respected by the European breeders and they loved her cats with their style and type. They kept in touch with Nancy in a very friendly way.

The last time I spent a great deal of time with Nancy was at the TICA World Show in Los Angeles in 1991. It was a very large event and brought breeders and exhibitors from all over the world. Nancy had sold a beautiful blue-silver male kitten to Betsy Tinney, Pinecoon cattery, in Washington state. Betsy sent the young male to Nancy for the World Show and while visiting Nancy before the show (I was exhibiting, not judging) we had a good time bathing and grooming him as we visited.

Nancy liked my Hillside Mr. Spock of Willowplace very much. We were discussing Nancy sending her beloved Diamond Lil to breed to Mr. Spock. As plans were finalized, Nancy had heard that Lynne Sherer, Calicoon cattery, was offering her Calicoon Prince Valiant for stud to selected breeders for a short period of time. She asked me what I thought about her sending Diamond Lil to Prince Valiant for breeding. We decided it was a great idea and that I should get a silver female from this breeding. Well, Nancy did the breeding, and guess what….there were no silver girls, just brown girls! There was a silver classic male in the litter. I was not sure I needed another male for breeding I had Spock and Starbuck, but Nancy and I kept talking and finally we decided to have Nancy send the silver boy to us for breeding. After Nancy put the silver Prince Valiant/Diamond Lil boy on the airplane, she telephoned me and told me to expect a surprise when I received the car rier. Nancy had also sent a brown classic female littermate with the silver boy. She felt I needed both for my breeding program. Dorothy Robinson, Seascape cattery, in Maine was looking for an outcrossed female to breed to her male stud, Willowplace Argus of Seascape. After I received the silver boy and brown girl, Nancy and Dorothy got together and sent the beautiful brown tabby female to Dorothy for Argus.

Nancy had saved the name Saint Clouds Silver Lining for a very special cat. Nancy and I discussed that this silver boy she had sent to me might be a Saint Clouds Silver Lining. As the weeks went on and we decided that he was a Saint Clouds SilverDude-a surfer boy who came from California. SilverDude was a breeding cat at Willowplace for nine years and an outstanding character! We thank Nancy and Lynne for this won derful boy with the very diverse pedigree. Saint Clouds SilverDude has played a part in breeding programs all over the world.

The last time I saw Nancy was in September 2004 (picture on page 11) at the San Gabriel Cat Show in Ar cadia, California. Nancy looked great! With us in the photo is Helen’s International Winner St Clouds Charlemagne, a beautiful blue-silver kitten that I had used as my best Maine Coon kitten and my best All breed kitten. They later told me that this boy is a son of Cree’s Junior (SilverDude’s grandson and his mother is Saint Clouds Gabriella- a granddaughter to Helen’s SGC Pedropurss Sirius Star and a Starfire granddaughter). Gabriella now resides with Nancy’s friend, Helen Brandenburg, in the Phoenix area.

Nancy sponsored new breeders of Maine Coons and she worked with established breeders. Nancy was always willing to listen and assist. Nancy will be greatly missed.