EUGENE BAUGHMAN DAVIS
July 13, 1933-Oct. 31, 2016
The Rev. Dr. Eugene Baughman Davis, 83, Jacksonville, N.C., passed away Monday, Oct. 31, 2016, at Village on Campbell in Burgaw, N.C.
Born July 13, 1933, in Mount Olive, N.C., he was the youngest son of the late Samuel Moseley Davis and Grace Lynch Davis.
A lifelong scouting and sports enthusiast, as a young man, Gene was an Eagle Scout with bronze and silver palms and the captain of his high school football and basketball teams, and played football in college.
He was a graduate of Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., California Graduate School of Theology in Los Angeles, Calif., and Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, Calif.
He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1957, and began his ministry at Grove Presbyterian Church in Kenansville, N.C., and served at Hallsville Presbyterian Church.
He followed his calling and entered the United States Navy as a chaplain in 1959, and served his country for 23 years. For his extraordinary service in Vietnam with the Third Marine Division in 1966 and 1967, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. This was the first awarding of this exceptional medal to a Navy chaplain serving with Marines on a battalion level in the preceding three wars.
Early in his military career, he was the chaplain on a ship, which was attacked by pirates on the high seas. He was instrumental in negotiating with the pirates to prevent an international incident.
He served as chaplain for a group of ships that participated in a South Atlantic Friendship tour.
While in South Africa, he opened the first parliament of South Africa with prayer.
After retiring from the Navy in 1983, he served as interim pastor at several Presbyterian churches in the area.
He is survived by his wife of almost 53 years, Betty Starling Davis; his daughter, Grace Davis Sturm and husband, William Mitch Sturm; two sons, Eugene B. Davis Jr. and David Henderson Davis; six grandchildren, Davis Rothwell Sturm, Starling Allison Sturm, Spencer Moseley Davis, Sophie Catherine Davis, Chloe Elizabeth Davis and Andrew Sampson Davis; and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, John N. Starling Jr. and Tresa Hudson Starling.
He was preceded in death by his two beloved brothers, Samuel Moseley Davis Jr. and William Lynch Davis.
The funeral service will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville, N.C., Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, at 11 a.m., with burial following the service at Starling Family Cemetery (Queen's Creek Methodist Church Cemetery) in Hubert, N.C.
Visitation will be held at Jones Funeral Home in Jacksonville Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on November 3, 2016 9:57 AM