Donald "Lee" Davis, Jr.

Donald “Lee” Davis, Jr., 76, of Carlisle, passed from this life on August 9, 2019, at home after battling Alzheimer’s disease. He was born September 4, 1942, in Stuttgart, Arkansas to Donald Lee Davis, Sr., and Luella Mae Schrock Davis. He was a lifelong Baptist. He began school in the Yoder community in a one-room schoolhouse, and later graduated from Stuttgart High School. He attended Arkansas State Teacher’s College (now University of Central Arkansas) in Conway, where he met his future wife, Cyretha “Ann” Goode, of England, Arkansas. The two eloped to Poteau, Oklahoma where they married on March 2, 1962.

Lee served as a member of the Arkansas National Guard for many years. After he married Ann, he returned to Stuttgart where he worked with his father in the family dragline business, which he continued to operate after his father’s passing. Their business built many reservoirs and canals for farmers in the Grand Prairie, with a number of them still in use. Most recently, Lee worked as a Dock Supervisor for SSA at the Port of Little Rock where he retired in 2014. It was while in the dragline business that he was given the nickname, “Digger,” by his best-friend’s daughter. The name has stuck and has only been replaced by his grandfather name of “Pops,” which has been his favorite title.

Lee was a well-known figure in Carlisle and Stuttgart, and never met a stranger. He always put others before himself. He was often late to events and appointments as a result of his visiting or helping others out with a problem. He was a Volunteer Firefighter with the Carlisle Fire Department, retiring in 1992. When he wasn’t working, he enjoyed meeting friends at the local coffee shop. He also enjoyed spending time with family, friends and most importantly, his grandchildren who called him “Pops,” which was by far his favorite nickname. He always said he wanted a “couch full of grandchildren,” and he and Ann got that and more. He loved cooking catfish for the family events and passed that tradition on to his sons.

Lee was preceded in death by his parents, Don and Luella Davis, and his sister, Donna Kay Davis. He is survived by his spouse, Ann Goode Davis of Carlisle, and his sister Rebecca Davis Van Meter of Frisco, Texas. He is also survived by his children, Donald Ted and Donna Miller Davis of Cabot, Samuel Lee and Alpha Buck Davis of Fayetteville, William “Todd” and Beth Mancini Davis of Shepherdsville, Kentucky and Mike and Bridgette Davis Moody of Carlisle. Other survivors are his grandchildren, who were the lights of his life. They are Mary Kathryn Davis Thomas and husband Jackson, of West Monroe, Louisiana, Bronwyn Davis of Fayetteville, Dylon Davis of Shepherdsville, Kentucky, Sarah Davis of Cabot, Micah Moody of Carlisle, Trenton Davis of Shepherdsville, Kentucky, Eli Moody of Carlisle and Morgan Mancini of Shepherdsville, Kentucky. He was further blessed with a great granddaughter, Adrianna Mancini of Shepherdsville, Kentucky.

A celebration of Life will be held at Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, Carlisle on Monday, August 12, 2019 at 2 p.m. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service beginning at 1 p.m. Burial will be at Carlisle Cemetery.