Col. Joseph A. Davis' Obituary
Col. Joseph A. Davis, 89, of Fayetteville, died Thursday, April 14, 2011, at Washington Regional Medical Center after a brief illness. Born December 13, 1921, in Oakland, California, he was the oldest of seven children born to Joseph A. Davis, Sr. and Bess Vernon Davis. Until he began school his family lived in several western states, always returning to Fannin County, Texas. In 1932 the family settled near Elkins, Arkansas, where Joe began fifth grade at Mt. View Schools. He graduated from Elkins High School in 1939. He joined the Texas National Guard at Bonham, Texas, in May 1940. When the Guard mobilized, he became a radio operator. He was selected for OCS and in November 1942, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He joined the 17th Airborne Division and was assigned to Headquarters Battery, 680th Glider Field Artillery.
September 18, 1943, Joe married his Texas sweetheart, Lora Cotham. They came to Fayetteville by train, to Elkins by cab and soon on the Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Joe arrived in Liverpool, England, in August 1944, the day his first child was born. Christmas Eve 1944, the battalion arrived in France to join the Battle of the Bulge. As they left England that day, Joe became battery commander and later won a battlefield promotion to Captain. In Mary the 17th Airborne Division joined the assault across the Rhein as part of Operation Varsity. The division was awarded a Presidential unit citation in the action and Joe earned a Bronze Star. When the war ended, Joe remained in the reserve but headed home to Texas and the year old baby he had yet to meet. The family moved to Dallas where Joe graduated from SMU with a degree in electrical engineering.
At the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, Joe returned to Ft. Sill on staff at the Artillery School. Later he went on to the Guided Missile School at Ft. Bliss, Texas, and then became the commanding officer of the 259th Battalion there. In 1959 Joe went to Saigon for 14 months as an advisor to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff. Next he was assigned to the Army Air Defense Command and then he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff as an operations officer. In 1964, after thirty years of service, Joe retired from the Army and the family returned to Texas. The next thirty years were devoted to his life-long interest: astronomy and telescopes, geology and fossils, plants and insects. With a variety of microscopes, he studied the “little animals” in a drop of water and he made detailed drawings of them. He worked on family genealogy, surveyed and mapped the Arkansas home place, experimented with cameras and film developing and read constantly on all subjects especially science and history. He was always available to his family, explaining math, physics and geology to his children and grandchildren, repairing anything.
Joe and Lora moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1999 to be near family. Joe enjoyed visits to his old home near Elkins and helped restore the log cabin there. He continued to add to his collection of books and hand tools. He and Lora also continued the tradition of family visits and family travels to the West that began in Joe’s childhood and included his great grandchildren eighty years later. Though he was a man of many accomplishments, he always considered his family to be the most important part of his life. He was our model of wisdom, integrity, good humor and humility.
Joe was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, James (Jim), John and Jack and his sisters Marth Stokenbury, Ann Fender and Mary Mixon. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Lora; daughters Sandra Stevenson and husband Dennis of Augusta, Georgia, and Mary Blankenship and husband David of Fayetteville; five grandchildren, Nancy Youmans and husband Charles, Donna Lann and husband Jim, Joseph Stevenson and wife Emily, Kathleen Villar and husband Cody and Joseph Blankenship; ten great grandchildren: Frances and Hannah Youmans, Ethan and Jessic Lann, Louis, McCall, Fisher and Turner Stevenson, Joseph and Cora Villar; and many nieces and nephews. He will always be admired, loved and missed by his family.
A graveside memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011, in Randolph, Texas.
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