‘What does a 100-year-old lady do?’
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If it is possible to truly live a full life, one Jones County resident might know the secret.
Her name is Lucille Davis. These are a few words loved ones use to describe her: Christian. Mother. Teacher. Veteran. Volunteer.
2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 18: A birthday party for Ms. Lucille will take place at Lake Congregational Methodist Church
Being one of those things would warrant respect. But “Ms. Lucille” — as just about everyone calls her — is all of them. Not that she thinks much of it.
“Oh, I don’t know what you’d write about,” she said recently when told the Leader-Call wanted to publish a story about her.
That’s another word that describes her: humble.
While Ms. Lucille has been many things throughout her life, the one constant has been a selfless devotion to the bettering of her community. So when asked what she would do for herself on her upcoming birthday, it seemed to catch her off guard. She drew a blank.
“What does a 100-year-old woman do?” she said with a laugh.
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“Ms. Lucille” was born in Jones County on March 22, 1923, the third of eight children. She attended Powers Elementary School. She graduated high school during World War II, when she and a friend went to Jackson to join the U.S. Navy. She passed her physical, but her friend did not. Davis went off to basic training alone and spent the duration of the war stationed at a Florida airbase. “I enjoyed it all,” she said, noting that she did not struggle with the rigid pace of the military because her parents had instilled discipline in their children.
After the war, she married Army veteran A.V. Lindsey and they moved home to Jones County. He worked at Masonite, while she worked at a telephone company. They had three children — Patricia, Joyce Ann and Frankie.
Then tragedy struck.
While driving to meet one of Lindsey’s old Army buddies for a vacation in 1956, the family was involved in a bad automobile wreck. When Ms. Lucille woke up in a hospital in DeKalb, she was told her husband and daughters had not survived. She and her son moved home. There was nothing to do but start over.
In 1964, Ms. Lucille married John Davis. That same year, she made the decision to go back to school. That’s something else she is: a believer in lifelong learning.
College for a 41-year-old married mother is different than it is for an 18-year-old, but Ms. Lucille met the challenge.
“I learned to burn the midnight oil,” she said.
After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, she began teaching fourth grade at Powers Elementary, the same school she had attended. For the next several decades, she essentially helped raise hundreds of local children. It was a fulfilling career. She retired in 1986.
Retirement for most people means relaxing and enjoying the days. For Ms. Lucille, it meant that she had gained time to volunteer. In 1989, she began volunteering at South Central Regional Medical Center. She did so for more than three decades, donating approximately 5,720 hours of her time. She also volunteered at The Cameron Center with United Blood Services/Vitalant, greeting donors, many of whom looked forward to seeing her.
These days, Ms. Lucille lives with her son Frankie and dutifully attends church at Lake Congregational Methodist Church. She still teaches Sunday school. She has always been rooted in faith.
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Of course, for a person such as Ms. Lucille, who has spent her life helping her community, the question should not be what is she going to do on her 100th birthday. Instead, it should be: What is her community going to do for her?
The answer is to have a party.
On Saturday, from 2 to 4 p.m., there will be a birthday party for Ms. Lucille at Lake Congregational Methodist Church. It will be a celebration of all she has meant — and continues to mean — to her community. There will be several cakes. Ms. Lucille has always been partial to roses. So one of those cakes will be adorned with roses that are pink and purple — her two favorite colors.
Anyone who knows Ms. Lucille is encouraged to attend, but organizers ask that attendees bring no gifts — only an appreciation for a local Christian, mother, teacher, World War II veteran and volunteer.
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