William Mack “Bill” Davis, 96, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Friday, January 13, 2023. Bill was a loving husband, devoted father, dedicated teacher, and life-long farmer.
Bill was born April 17, 1926, on his parents’ farm in Terry, Mississippi. A 1943 graduate of Terry High School, he continued his education at Hinds Community College and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Education at Mississippi State University. To finance his education, he began as a student worker – “pulling corn from the field” – and when asked by his mother soon after starting school how college was, he answered, “Just like home.”
Bill played football at Terry High School and at Mississippi State University until he was accepted to the United States Merchant Marines Academy in 1944, where he also played football. After 18 months with the Merchant Marines, he joined the United States Army in which he served from 1946 to 1950 in the 511th Parachutist Infantry stationed in Japan as part of the occupation forces after World War II. And yes, he was a member of his unit’s football team, where he earned All-Conference honors.
After Bill’s time in the Army, he finished his undergraduate degree and began his teaching career at McComb High School in 1953. He also served as assistant football coach at McComb, and the team won the 1956 Big Eight Championship. The team did well in football but not quite as well in “pulling corn from the field.” They were not helpful on the farm, but they did make a fun memory. In 2003, he was invited to be the keynote speaker at a team reunion that coincided with the induction of former student Warner Alford into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
After earning his Master of Science Degree at Mississippi College and continuing to advance his studies at the University of Alabama, he was chosen to study at Cornell University as part of a National Science Foundation Grant for the research of radiation biology and plant physiology.
From 1960 to 1961, he taught at what was then Mississippi State College for Women in Columbus, Mississippi. In 1962, Bill became an instructor in the Science Department at the Raymond campus of Hinds Community College, retiring in 1989 as Chairman of the department.
Bill had a passion for learning and sharing his extensive knowledge with others. Former students at Hinds Community College will remember his parachute landing fall. Bill would jump off his desk and hit and roll, demonstrating what he learned as a parachutist in the army, which was a great way to grab their attention. Bill’s main interest was botany, and he would take his students around campus to mix academics with reality by showing them various plants and insects. Of course, he was one of few teachers at Hinds to take his classes outside. With his dendrology class, the first class for Forestry majors, Bill took the students off campus to Vicksburg, along the Natchez Trace, and to his farm in Terry for them to identify a variety of trees during all seasons.
Beginning in the 1970s he and his children worked together to deliver the Clarion Ledger and Jackson Daily News to Raymond residents. Bill, along with wife Bobbie, continued this service through the late 1980s. To this day, people in Raymond remark how the delivery of their newspaper was never better. Additionally, in the 1970s, Bill changed from raising cows to raising soybeans because soybeans “didn’t break down the fence in the middle of the night.”
In the late 1990s, both Bill and Bobbie became interested in tree farming and began taking classes in Forestry through the Mississippi State University Extension Service. As recently as one month ago, he inquired about the growth of their pine timber.
Bill took up woodworking in retirement, and upon retirement from Hinds Community College, his colleagues gave him a gift certificate to purchase lumber for his new pursuit. The gift went to good use. He crafted beautiful furniture - the first and favorite of which was a buffet for his wife, Bobbie. His children and grandchildren have pieces such as bookcases, Adirondack chairs, tables, benches, and even toys. These were all handmade pieces that they still treasure.
Later in retirement, Bill and Bobbie worked crossword puzzles together each day, and Bill also played solitaire on the computer. His grandchildren fondly remember riding around the farm on his tractor, picking blueberries and blackberries, performing experiments in his office, and playing in his woodshop. He would give mini science lectures whenever he had a chance, and he loved to ask what they were learning in school. He was always ready to offer a quick hug and word of encouragement.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents Carruther and Eunice Davis, brother Carruther Jones Davis Jr., sister Madge Tabb Jones, brothers-in-law Dan Tabb and Justice Robert L. Jones, and sister-in-law Rita Heidisch-Davis.
Bill is survived by his wife of 71 years, Bobbie; brother Clifton B. Davis of Grand Rapids, Michigan; daughter Susan Davis Egger (Perry) of Madison, Mississippi; sons Mac Davis (Wendi) of Southlake, Texas; Steve Davis (Robbie) of Germantown, Tennessee; and Charles Davis (Brenda) of Raymond, Mississippi; granddaughters Stephanie Davis Bailey (Brice), Lauren Egger Williamson (Thomas), Emily Davis, and Abigail Butler; grandsons Matthew Davis, Justin Egger (Sarah), and Andrew Butler; great-grandchildren Jackson Hasie, Livie and Wells Bailey, Tate and Andrew Williamson, and Mackenzie Egger; one niece Lara Davis Kessler (Nils); and two nephews Kirk Davis (Regina) and Eric Davis (LaGina) and their children.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2023, beginning at 12 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Raymond with the funeral service to follow at 2 p.m. Interment will be at the Raymond Cemetery with Wright & Ferguson Funeral Home handling arrangements.
The family extends their sincere gratitude to the staff at Beau Ridge Senior Living, Covenant Caregivers Home Care, and the dedicated professionals at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center.
The family respectfully requests any memorial donations be made to Hinds Community College General Scholarship Fund, the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia Center (MIND Center) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, First Baptist Church in Raymond, or the organization of your choice.
