Davenport Times sends special message

Life can be full of coincidences. Picking up the phone to discover the person you were going to call is already on the line. A store may be displaying the very item you are looking for when you walk in the door. But not everyday does an old newspaper with a family connection surface during a home remodel.

Davenport resident Gabe Gants was remodeling his home in Davenport at 904 8th Street when he said he had a “personal confirmation” that he had picked the right house.

“About five years ago we decided to move back inside the city limits and purchase a home full of future projects and history,” Gants shared with the Times. “ It was the history and charm of a local house that convinced me it was a good decision, but I never imagined I’d receive a personal confirmation on this decision from an unlikely find left in a wall.”

The house had been built in the late 1800’s by H.A.P. Myers who was once the city attorney and Washington State Representative. It would later be owned by another local attorney, Myer’s twin brother and Washington State Senator Charles Myers. Other owners included a retired farmer in the family of George Zier, and then Sheriff Dan Berry and his family.

The house needed a new roof and Gants started the remodel project by having an environmental company remove all of the asbestos attic insulation. However, a delay in finding a roofing company meant the roof project remained uncompleted during the winter months. It was then, during frustration and doubt, that Gants said he had a confirmation that the house was meant to be his.

“As I laid there one night freezing, and trying to get to sleep I began to question my decision (and sanity) to move which had felt right at the time,” he said. “To put it simply I was overwhelmed with the situation and the amount of work to do and wasn’t even sure where to start.”

The next morning, Gants said he resolved to keep working on the project and was demolishing a short wall below the stair railing to see his deceased father staring back at him.

“I pried off a corner and ripped that piece of sheetrock off the wall only to see my dad staring back at me. I stood there in disbelief for a few minutes before reaching in and pulling out a Davenport Times dated Thursday, February 25th, 1988,” Gants related. “On the front page of the Times was a photograph of my dad, Jim Gants, with an article showing he had been hired as the new police chief for Davenport. I had never seen this article before and didn’t even know it existed, but was amazed at the turn of events that led to its discovery.”

Gants contacted the former owners of the home who were also perplexed as to why a copy of the Davenport Times would be in the wall.

“They were as confused as I was when I first found the newspaper. I was told the room had been used as an extra space and once had a desk against the wall where the paper was found,” Gants said. “Nobody could remember placing the paper in the wall on purpose and the belief was perhaps the paper had been knocked off the desk inadvertently and ended up in the wall cavity before it was sealed up.”

Gants said while he may never be able to determine why that particular newspaper was in the wall, he said he saw a deeper meaning in the circumstance.

“I would love to know the odds of finding this specific paper in this specific home. I’m not an actuary so I cannot answer the odds question, but I’m guessing I would have a better chance of winning the mega millions without ever purchasing a ticket,” he said. “While some may see this as a strange coincidence; I have to wonder that just perhaps it was to serve as a not-so-subtle reminder that while I may be the writer, HE is the author.”