Lorne Arthur Davis

Lorne Arthur Davis, Sr. was a most unassuming man. He was born September 29, 1918 in a sod farmhouse to Clifford A. Davis and Johanna Sneider, whose families had settled the Dakota Territory. He attended a one-room South Dakota schoolhouse in his early years and graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines in 1941 with a BS in Chemical Engineering. Lorne attained the rank of Captain in the Army Air Corps during WWII. His awards include the Bronze Star in the China Campaign, the Bronze Star in the India-Burma Campaign, the WWII Victory medal, the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon, and the Meritorious Unit Insignia. As part of the 1st Air Transport Squadron, he was part of the famous “Hump” service, flying supplies from India to China through the Himalayas for the XX Bomber Command. They flew all the supplies for the American and Chinese forces down the “aluminum trail,” so named for the perilous flights without modern navigational or weather aids through the mountains against Japanese fighters. Nine hundred aircraft were lost. For this he was later awarded the China War Memorial Medal by the Republic of China. After the war, Lorne Davis joined the civil service at Keesler Field in Biloxi, MS and married Mabel Richards of Lorraine (now Gulfport), MS. Lorne had a 35-year long career in management of training schools for the Air Force, including Titan missiles and the health sciences. On retirement, he received the award for exceptional civilian service to the United States Air Force. He died Thursday, July 24, 2014, in Seguin, Texas. As a long time member of the Mississippi City United Methodist Church, he will be remembered for the example he set for the generations of his community and his family. Lorne Davis, Sr. is preceded in death by his wife Mabel and his stepson James A. Clark. He is survived by his son Lorne Arthur Davis, Jr. and his wife Jean of Seguin, TX; his daughter-in-law Nancy Clark of Chapel Hill, NC; six grandchildren—Karen Davis Beaty (Roberto), Gail Davis Roberson (Gordon), Deborah Clark Matthews (Al), Jason Ramsay Clark (Nicole), Susan Clark Lister (David), Stacey Clark Burgin (Chris); and 13 great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 31, 201 in the chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, O’Neal Road, Gulfport. Interment will be in Coalville Cemetery. Friends are invited to call one hour prior to the service. For those who prefer memorials, the family suggests the Mississippi City United Methodist Church, 219 Courthouse Road, Gulfport, MS 39507; Coalville United Methodist Church Cemetery, 12298 Shorecrest Road, Biloxi, MS 39532 or Guadalupe Valley Hospice in Seguin, TX.