William Lawson "Bill" Davis, Jr., age 97, of Columbus, MS, passed away March 27, 2013, at Trinity Healthcare. Funeral services will be Saturday, March 30, 2013, at 11:00 AM at Gunter & Peel Chapel with Rev. Diane Lemmon officiating and Rev. Prentiss Gordon assisting. The interment will immediately follow at Friendship Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday, March 30, 2013, one hour prior to the service at Gunter & Peel Funeral Home. Mr. Davis was born August 31, 1915, in Lowndes County, MS, to the late William Lawson and Maggie Elizabeth Sharp Davis. He was a graduate of Caledonia High School and a veteran of WWII serving in the United States Marine Corps in the South Pacific. Mr. Davis was the manager of the women's shoe department of Egger's Department Store and retired as an insurance agent with New York Life Insurance Company. He was a member and past president of the Columbus Exchange Club and member of Wesley United Methodist Church. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Lavada Files Davis, and sisters, Goldie Burns, Louella Stephenson, Cecile Andrews, Maggie Will Davis, Rena Scott Smith, Irene Yancey, and Helen Davis. Survivors include his son, William Lawson Davis, III, and his wife Lynne of Florence, AL, daughter, Barbara Davis Rodgers and her husband Jerry of Stuttgart, AR, grandchildren, Ashley Rodgers Weathers and her husband Walter of Houston, TX, Brandon Rodgers and his wife Tabatha of Stuttgart, AR, Holly Davis Clark and her husband Adam of Derby, KS, and Hunter L. Davis of Mary Esther, FL, great grandchildren, Cameron Rodgers, Cason Rodgers, and Thomas Weathers, sister-in-law, Frances Riemann of Gulfport, MS, and numerous nieces and nephews. Pallbearers will be Brandon Rodgers, Walter Weathers, III, Eric Smith, Eliot Andrews, Andy Andrews, and John Davis. Memorials may be made to Wesley United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 2511, Columbus, MS, 39704 or Palmer Home For Children, P.O. Box 746, Columbus, MS, 39703.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of William Lawson Davis, Jr., please visit our flower store.
