Arthur David Davis Jr.

Published 1:41 pm Friday, September 15, 2017

Arthur David Davis Jr., 92, of Davie County, died on Sept. 13, 2017.

A memorial service will be held at Cherry Hill Church, Davie County.

He was born May 29, 1925 in Cleveland, N.C. to Anna Haire Davis and Arthur David Davis Sr., who along with his sisters, Beulah Davis Davis, Agnes Davis Roudabush and Georgiana Davis Thompson, preceded him in death.

Survivors: his wife, Mary Apperson Davis; his daughters, Vernon Davis of the home, and Melissa Ives (Gary) of Marble Falls, Ark.; son, Addison (Kit) of Salisbury; 4 grandchildren, Ken Libbin, Montgomery, Ala.; Carolyn Wang, Brisbane, Calif.; Jennifer Chua, Manhattan, Kan.; Christopher Bumgardner, San Francisco, Calif., and 7 great-grandchildren.

After graduating from Cleveland High School in 1943, he joined the Navy serving as a hospital corpsman aboard the USS Alaska. He participated in the occupation of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, in sweeps for Japanese shipping in the East China and Yellow Seas and in the occupation of Tsingtao (Qingdao), China. He continued to serve his country in the US Naval Reserve for 41 years, retiring in 1985 as a chief petty officer. Following World War II, he returned to become a rural mail carrier, taking on his father’s route in Cleveland until his retirement from the postal service in 1971. He and Mary were married June 5, 1948 and lived in Cleveland where they raised their children until moving to Davie County. He never stopped working, delivering papers in Davie, Rowan and Davidson counties, farming the family homestead until the 1990s and serving as a chief judge for the Davie County Board of Elections. He was a conservationist and recycler and was instrumental in maintaining Wachovia Pet Cemetery and Cherry Hill Church.  He will be remembered as a joker, a prankster, and a disciplinarian who couldn’t hide his smile.

Memorials: Cherry Hill Church, treasurer, 2995 Miller Road, Salisbury, 28147.

Condolences: www.lyerlyfuneralhome.com.