JEFFERSON WEBB DAVIS

My father was a flawed man. I would even go as far as to say he was more flawed than most in some ways. But like most, even though we are all flawed, he also had great things about him. I do not know my father's history as well as I probably should and can't speak too much of his past before my earliest memories of him. With that said I would like to share what I do know about him.

He was born to Mary Ann Davis and Dick Davis. He has an older sister, my aunt, Lee Ann Davis. He has me the middle child, Jesse his oldest son, and Chelsea Davis his daughter. He was a martial arts instructor, a volunteer firefighter, an EMT, and later went on to be an electrician. As well as served in the Navy, which is where he met my mother.

Due to the paths he chose to take my mother and him split when I was really young. I would alternate custody between my mother and father for years. This is where my personal memories shape my father in my mind.

In my younger years my father struggled greatly with his demons. We were very poor, and there wasn't much stability. Now you would think I would look back at those times with sadness or contempt. Yet even though some horrible things took place during those years, some of my fondest memories are from those times.

I remember eating fried spam sandwiches and wrestling at night before winding down and watching Steven Segal movies on the TV. I remember going to get Slurpee's from the local Seven Eleven. I remember staying up reading goosebumps books by the oil lamp and playing cards. These are the memories that I cherish. During these dark times is when my father also met his future wife, Cheryl.

Whereas me and Cheryl didn't always see eye to eye, she was good to him and never treated me poorly. In fact, she would often take great care of me while my father wrestled his demons. Eventually my father became victorious in his ongoing battle and later on in my life he became successful in his career and settled down with Cheryl.

He loved his family and loved being a Floridian. He loved to fish and camp. Going out on the boat, and swimming at the beach. He was extremely intelligent and very charismatic. He loved music and loved even more in sharing his favorite things with his family.

Much later in my years me and my father became estranged. The last 10 years, give or take, I cannot speak to my father's deeds or actions. I will carry my regret for not rebuilding that bridge before it was too late for the rest of my life. He tried to, in his own way, to lay down the foundation to rebuild that bridge. I chose not to assist him in that. I guess I thought I had more time. How cliche to say. What I do know however is even in those last 10 years or so, he tried to better himself by helping his peers in the church and vocational training. I'm not going to divulge all his faults and where that got him in the end. Those who knew him know and that's all that matters. I just wanted to highlight that even in the dark he tried to be a light to those he could.

I am aware that this is not a formal obituary. I am also aware that this is almost a year late. I merely just found out about his passing yesterday. I just wanted something to be said in his memory in a public forum. Since when I tried to look up his obituary I found nothing but a blank web page and only one tree donation which was given by the mortuary themselves. Whereas I'm sure in private setting my father's side of the family said their peace and mourned him. I find it uncouth and upsetting that if you look up my father all you get is his demons and a blank online obituary page. I only hope that he was indeed shown the natural respect of a human being who passed, and not attempted to be washed out of the family history like a stain on an otherwise pristine family image.

For anyone looking up my father this late after his passing. I hope you see this and know that my father Jefferson Webb Davis existed, was flawed like us all, but fought the good fight. He is not his demons, but instead he is a scarred man who fought bravely against them.

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