Dr. Thomas Richard Davis

Dr. Thomas Richard Davis, who was affectionately known as T. Richard, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, November 23, 2020.  He was 97 years of age.  

T. Richard Davis was born July 6, 1923, in Parrot, Georgia. He was one of five siblings: Margaret Kessler, James Davis, Durwood Davis, and Rebecca Thurmond. T. Richard grew up on his grandfather’s 700-acre dairy farm, which his mother and father operated during the Depression.  

Educated in the Atlanta Public School System, T. Richard went on to graduate from Commercial Senior High School. Following his high school graduation, he was employed by the Atlanta Bureau of Identification as a photographer and later trained in fingerprint identification. T. Richard assisted in FBI investigations and was actually deferred from the WWII draft for 15 months because of the demand for his specialty.

Before his deferment, he met his wife Jimmie Gassaway Davis, to whom he was married to for 68 years. When he was 19, T. Richard joined the US Marine Corp on August 14, 1943, where he served in the 2nd Marine Division, First Class, B Company. He left for the war via Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and fought in the South Pacific Theatre. In 1945, he was one of the 11 marines from the 2nd Marine Division selected to return to the mainland to attend a four-year officer candidate school at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.    

After the war, T. Richard returned to his job with the Bureau of Identification in Atlanta, Georgia, and enrolled in the Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He became certified as a fingerprint analyst and was assigned to identify victims of the Winecoff Hotel fire in December of 1946. Though he graduated from Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1949, T. Richard remained with the Bureau of Identification for eight years, taking crime confession depositions and providing identification information that was used in FBI investigations. He also taught fingerprint identification tactics to police recruits at the Atlanta Police Academy. 

Later, T. Richard followed God’s call into the ministry, a calling which he believed to be the most rewarding and fulfilling of his storied life. At the age of 28, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and went on to earn a Master of Divinity with honors in Theological Studies from Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Eventually, T. Richard went on to obtain his Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.

A devoted pastor for over 50 years, T. Richard served as senior pastor and was actively involved in the following communities: 

Patterson Baptist Church in Patterson, Georgia, where he was also a member of the Lion’s Club
First Baptist, Hazelhurst, Georgia, where he was also a member of the Kiwanis Club, First Baptist in Dawson, Georgia, Central Baptist in Americus, Georgia, where he was also a member of the Rotary Club andFirst Baptist in Rock Hill, South Carolina  

T. Richard served on the Board of Directors for Brewton Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia, and was a member of the Advisory Board of Charleston Baptist College in Charleston, South Carolina. He chaired the Rules and Regulations Committee of the South Carolina Baptist Convention and served as Pastor Advisor to the Baptist Student Union. He chaired the Executive Committee of the Chattahoochee Baptist Association, where he served as Moderator for two years in addition and teaching in the pastor training program.

In 1980, he came to First Baptist Church in Gainesville, Georgia, where he served as an Associate Pastor.  While at First Baptist, T. Richard taught the Pastor’s Class, launched the Ministry of Caring program, and led the Senior Adults Ministry, which he named The Vintagers. In 1982, he co-founded the Alzheimer’s Family Support Group of Northeast Georgia, which he led with Helen Lilly for five years, while serving on the committee that went on to open the Guest House. 

T. Richard also enjoyed all kinds of sports including baseball, basketball, football and particularly golf.  In 1980, he organized a golf club consisting of 30 members and hosted golf tournaments called “The Gray Cup Classic”.  

After retiring from First Baptist in 1991, T. Richard substitute taught for 15 years at Gainesville High School, where his daughter, Kathy Smith, taught Social Studies for 20 years and where the students lovingly referred to him as “Mr. T.” The Gainesville High School yearbook was dedicated to Mr. T in 2003, and he was honored with an honorary GHS diploma in 2013. 

T. Richard is preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Jimmie Davis, who passed away at 93, and his son Thomas “Tom” Richard Davis, Jr. He is survived by his two adoring daughters: his older daughter, Kathy Jeannine Smith (husband Benny Smith); grandson, Ron Kelley (wife Mallory Kelley); great-grandsons, Hudson and Coleman Kelley; step-grandchildren, Amanda Cruce (husband Sam Cruce), Drew Smith (wife Mary Jane Hassell), and Rachel Flint (husband Murray Flint) and his youngest daughter, Kandy Davis Kuglin (husband Dave Kuglin); step grandson, Brad Kuglin (wife Erin Kuglin); step great-grandson, Connor Kuglin and step great-granddaughter, Cameron Kuglin; step grandson, Matt Kuglin (wife Rachel Kuglin) and step great-granddaughter, Reagan Kuglin.

The family will receive friends Sunday, December 6, 2020 from 2:30 pm. To 3:00 p.m. at the funeral home. A celebration of life service to honor T. Richard will be held in Little and Davenport Funeral Home at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers please make donations to First Baptist Green Street Ministry of Caring or Northeast Georgia Hospice.  Condolences can be sent to littledavenport.com

Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory, 355 Dawsonville Highway, SW, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 is in charge of arrangements.