Reverend David Davies

David B. Davies, of Petit Jean Mountain, died December 11, 2010 in North Little Rock. He was born September 23, 1927 in Morrilton, AR to Samuel Green Davies and Stella Ladd Davies. He spent his early childhood in Morrilton and on Petit Jean Mountain. The family later moved to Little Rock when his father became the state‘s first Director of the Arkansas State Parks. He graduated in 1945 from Little Rock High School. After serving two years in the Navy as a radio operator at Naval Air Station Squantum, Boston, MA, he returned to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and graduated in 1950 with a degree in English. Following graduation, he married Barbara Felton of Lonoke on June 8, 1950. They moved to Princeton, NJ where he attended Princeton Theological Seminary, graduating in 1953 with a Master of Divinity. The grandson and great-grandson of Arkansas Presbyterian ministers, he was an active and successful Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 57 years, serving in Mena, AR, Duncan, OK, Mt. Pleasant, TX, Lewisville, AR and Texarkana, AR, retiring from full-time ministry in November 1992. Over his 23-year tenure as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Texarkana, Arkansas, in addition to the construction of a new Fellowship Hall, the congregation assumed many projects, including: resettling and sponsoring Asian refugees from Fort Chaffee after the war in Vietnam; prison ministry at the Federal Correctional Institute in Texarkana, TX; and installation of a memorial peal of change ringing bells in the existing church tower, the first of its type in Arkansas and the third ring of tower bells west of the Mississippi River. The Reverend Davies also participated actively in the Committee on Ministry for the Presbytery of the Pines, and was a supportive mentor for many seminarians training for the ministry. During the 1980’s he received additional training and certification in pastoral care and counseling at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Because he always loved being outdoors and working with young people, he and wife, Barbara, participated in Presbyterian church camps at Gilmont in Gilmer, TX, and Ferncliff in Ferndale, AR. In addition, he collaborated with others to establish annual summer float trips on the Buffalo River for Presbyterian youth in Arkansas and Louisiana. Active in retirement, he served as interim pastor for churches in Arkadelphia, Morrilton, and Dardanelle, finally serving as Stated Supply of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Atkins, AR for eleven years, preaching his final sermon the Sunday before his death. His service to Memorial Presbyterian Church was the longest of any Pastor for that congregation. In December of 2007, he married Margaret Stuart Wilson Dickey in the Atkins church. One of his favorite hobbies was restoring an 1855 log cabin relocated from Mt. Pleasant, TX to the Davies Farm on Petit Jean Mountain. In his later years, he shared memories of the Civilian Conservation Corps era, in which his father and older brother served as engineers, assisting in construction and development of Petit Jean State Park. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Barbara Davies, brother S. Ladd Davies, and sister Caroline Davies Cravens. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Stuart Wilson Davies; three children, Debby Cross (J.B.) of Little Rock, Ben Davies (Diane) of Pace, FL and Jon Davies (Sharyn) of Little Rock; six grandchildren; Nate Davies (Tomoe) of Oxnard, CA, Bracy Cross (Terri) of Little Rock, Ladd Davies (Abby) of Cantonment, FL, Caroline Cross, Sam Davies and Emily Davies, all of Little Rock; two great-grandchildren and one on the way; many beloved nieces and nephews; and extended family Paula Dickey and Richard Gill of New Orleans, LA, and Eugenia and Peter Caldwell of San Francisco, CA. A Service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held on Wednesday, December 15 at 1:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, led by the Rev. Dr. Karen K. Akin. Interment will be at the community cemetery on Petit Jean Mountain following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Memorial Presbyterian Church, 206 North Church Street, Atkins, AR 72823, or to the charity of your choice.