James Davis
Rev. James Davis
The Rev. James Davis died May 21, 1985, of cancer at his Bakersfield, Calif., home, according to information received last week by friends in Lusk. He was 73.
The Rev. Davis served the Lusk Congregational Church from 1961 to 1968.
He was ordained as a minister of the United Church of Christ in 1939. He served during World War II served as a naval officer and was stationed on Guam as the head of the island's Department of Education. He was captured by the Japanese on the third day of the war and was held prisoner for three years and nine months before being released in 1945.
Upon his return to civilian life, he was pastor of churches in Arizona and Hawaii before coming to Lusk in 1961. He later served at Arvin and Lancaster, Calif. He moved to Bakersfield in 1971.
He and his wife, Fayne, formed the Cessna-Sergeant Chapter of the American EX-P.O.W. He was a member of the Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion and the Am-Vets. He was an officer and a member of Mayflower Descendents and Kiwanis Club. He served as director for the Adult Day Car Center for Alzheimer's Disease at the First Congregational Church in Bakersfield almost until the time of his death. He was also a tutor for the Laubach Literacy Association of Kern, Calif.
Significant tributes were paid to the Rev. Davis in the church memorial service and in the full military honors at his burial.
Survivors include his wife, Fayne of Bakersfield; daughter, Dinah Randolph of Bakersfield; sons, Frank Davis of Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Curt Davis of New York City; a brother Ramond Davis of Trinidad, Calif., and three grandchildren.