Don Davis

Don Davis lived long enough to see his beloved Boston Red Sox win a World Series and the New Orleans Saints win a Super Bowl, so he figured he had seen it all. So it was that on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014, Don moved on to the next life to be with his wife of 41 years, Caroline. Appropriately, he was en route to his favorite chair to watch his television when he quietly slipped away. That may have been the only thing Don Davis ever did quietly. A man of colorful language and irrepressible spirit, Don was a lifelong member of the Ocean Springs Elks Lodge and was the driving force behind the launch of the Ocean Springs Elks Mardi Gras Parade, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next January and annually draws 50,000 or more to the streets of Don’s adopted home town of Ocean Springs. Donald Franklin Davis was born on Aug. 28, 1929 in Boston, Mass. You didn’t have to ask Don where he was from. Just a few words in that heavy “Baastan” accent and you knew. According to his sons, Don was “street educated,” but found his way to Boeing and crafted a career. In the mid-60’s he and Caroline Paskiewicz met at the Jersey Shore and were married in 1965. The following year, son Michael was born. Andrew would follow four years later. By the late 60’s, Don’s job with Boeing brought him south to Slidell, La., where he worked for Boeing as it partnered with NASA on the Apollo program. Don wasn’t in engineering or aerospace. He worked in finance. “Trust me, you didn’t want my dad launching rockets,” Mike says, laughing. Don and his young family left Louisiana in 1970, relocating to Ocean Springs when he accepted a job with Ingalls Shipbuilding. He remained there for 8 years before spending 4 years in Saudi Arabia. By 1982, Don was back in Ocean Springs and remained there the rest of his life. He retired from Ingalls in 1995. Don’s involvement in the Ocean Springs Elks Lodge (BPOE 2501) and his central role in starting the Mardi Gras parade were a great source of pride to him. Outside of work and family, his life revolved around the lodge. “We grew up in the Elks Lodge,” Mike and Andy say. “Don-isms” are abundant, replete with the “colorful” adjectives and phrases with which he would pepper his speech. He was one of those proverbial folks who never met a stranger. One of Don’s quirks was his inability to accurately remember names. Two of his favorite actors were “Dusty Hoffman” and “Tom Hank.” But Don Davis loved his wife, he loved his kids and he loved the Boston Red Sox – not always in that particular order. In his later years, he doted over his four grandchildren, who were among the great joys of his life. Andy says his dad was proud to have seen his two sons graduate from college and start families of their own. “He was my first friend,” Mike says. “He was everybody’s buddy.” Don was preceded in death by Caroline, who passed in 2005, as well as his parents, Nora and Frank Davis, and two brothers, Kip and Artie – all of Boston. He is survived by his two sons, Mike (Dina) Davis and Andy (Jennifer) Davis; a sister, Jeanne Siemasko; and four grandchildren, Treviso, Taylor, Jackson and Grayden. Visitation is set for 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 9, 2014 at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home in Ocean Springs with an 11:45 a.m. procession to St. Alphonsus Catholic Church where there will be a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at noon.