Thomas Davis

Funeral services for Thomas Essly Davis will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 19, 2011 at Greenlawn Funeral Home Chapel with burial to follow in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 1pm until the hour of the service on Saturday at the funeral home. Members of the Wayne Nutt Sunday School Class of Mt. Elon Baptist Church will serve as honorary pallbearers. Mr. Davis passed away on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. He was born August 18, 1917 in Chesterfield, SC to the late Waterman Jacob Davis and Ada Watson Davis. He was a U.S. Navy veteran and a member of the Seabees during World War II at Iwo Jima. He was a longtime member of Mt. Elon Baptist Church, and the Wayne Nutt Sunday School Class. He was retired from the City of Columbia Water Department. Mr. Davis was very inventive mechanically, and once made a forerunner of the modern Go-Kart for his young children. He was also very creative with natural materials, especially his carvings from corn stalks. Surviving are his loving children: son, Thomas E. Davis (wife Cindy); daughters, Martha Railey (husband Larry), Sara Merritt, and Dottie Myers (husband Leon); grandchildren: Bill Davis, Tommy Davis, Elizabeth Stephens, Courtney Hallett, Mechelle Bates, Daryl Merritt, Kim Anthony, and Erin Salisbury; ten great-grandchildren; a sister, Tim Thames; and brothers, E.W. Davis and W.J. ?Dub? Davis. He is also survived by his dear friend, Alice Culley. He was predeceased by his parents; his beautiful beloved wife of more than 50 years, Martha Ingram Davis; a sister; and three brothers. The family would like to extend special thanks to Heartstrings Hospice, especially Ron Smith and Ambria Parker; and Synergy Home Health, especially Keeaira Henson, for their loving care of Mr. Davis. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mt. Elon Baptist Church or to the American Heart Association.