Copiah County, Mississippi

Copiah County Obituaries & Biographies

Services for Harold L. "Jack" Davis of Hazlehurst are 11 a.m., Thursday, May 27, at Antioch Baptist Church in Barlow with burial in the church cemetery. Community Funeral Services is in charge of arrangements. Visitation is Wednesday from 5-9 p.m., at the church.

Mr. Davis, 74, died May 24, 2004, at Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital. He was born in Copiah County.

He was a retired Command Sergeant Major with National Guard Mississippi after a career of 35 years. He was a deacon and music director at Antioch Baptist Church for 41 years. He was a member of Central Mississippi Chapter of the Mississippi Society Sons of the American Revolution and served as chapter secretary. He was a member of First Families of Mississippi and Hazlehurst Lions Club, where he served as tail twister. He was a charter member of Mississippi National Guard Noncommissioned Officers Association. He was a member and former national parliamentarian of the Enlisted Association of National Guard of the United States, and was a member of Mended Hearts of Jackson.

He served in the Army as chaplain assistant during the Korean Conflict. He received a Bronze Star, two Oak Leaf Clusters and the Mississippi Magnolia Metal. He was a fifth generation member of several Early Copiah County Families. He was an avid master carpenter and owner of Davis Enterprises, accomplishing many projects for friends, family and his church. He was a graduate of Hazlehurst City Schools, Copiah-Lincoln Junior College and University of Southern Mississippi.

Preceding him in death were his parents, Owen Howell "Jack" and Betty Bishop Davis; his brother, James Earl Davis; and a grandson, Stephen Paul Cartwright.

Survivors are his wife, Billie Jane Shotts Davis; his daughter and son-in-law, Wendy Davis Cartwright and husband Paul C. of Yazoo City; his sons and daughters-in-law, Michael Lee and Cindy Mitchell Davis, and James Robert "Jim" and Sherry Moss Davis, all of Hazlehurst; his grandchildren, Gregory Alan Davis, Jack Mitchell Davis, Mary Michael Davis, Harold "Chase" Davis, William Owen "Will" Davis, Cathryn Colby Cartwright and Joseph "Tyler" Davis Cartwright; his great-grandson, Bryce Alan Davis; and his mother-in-law, Rubenia Shotts Hardin.

Honorary pallbearers will be the deacons of Antioch Baptist Church.

Memorials may be made to Rosalie Library Fund, P.O. Box 1392, Natchez, MS 39121, or the Copiah County Chapter of the American Heart Association, or the J.T. Biggs Jr. Memorial Library, 200 S. Jackson St., Crystal Springs, MS 39059, or the Noncommissioned Officers Association Scholarship Fund or any organization or charity of choice.

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