Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1918 - 2012 (94 years)| Name | Harry Augustus DAVIS [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] | |
| Prefix | Dr. | |
| Suffix | Jr. M.D. | |
| Birth | 1918 | Greenwood, South Carolina  |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina Harry A. Davis Harry Augustus Davis Jr., M.D., 94, husband of Laurie Tilley Davis, died Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center. Born in Greenwood, he was a son of the late Harry Augustus Davis Sr. and Mary Sue Sproles Davis. Dr. Davis was twice married, first to the late Alfreda Lytle Davis and then to Laurie Tilley Davis. Dr. Davis graduated from the College of Charleston and Jefferson Medical School. He was a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church, as well as a member of the Santee Summer Ministries, the Sumter Kiwanis Club and the American Legion Post #15. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He was a Mason and Shriner, and he retired from family practice in 1983 after 40 years. Surviving are his wife of Sumter; one son, Harry Augustus (Inky) Davis III of Manning; two daughters, Mary Winn Davis Nelson and husband, Dr. Wilson Nelson, of Taylors, and Pamela Teresa Davis of Mount Pleasant; one sister, Martha Davis Eure of Sumter; two stepdaughters, Kathleen Haynes Weaver of Durham, N.C., and Leslie Haynes of Columbia; seven grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the chapel of the Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home with Dr. Wilson Nelson and the Rev. Reginald Thackston officiating. Private burial will follow in the Davis cemetery. Pallbearers will be Gus Davis, Pat Davis, Chris Nelson, Ross Nelson, Dan Rockefeller and Scott Weaver. The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday at the Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home and other times at 22 Riley St. Memorials may be made to the Connie Maxwell Children’s Home, Mary Sue Sproles Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1178, Greenwood, SC 29648. Online condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of the arrangements. (803) 775-9386. Posted in Obituaries on Sunday, December 23, 2012 Veteran, physician remembered for compassion, dedication Dr. Harry Augustus Davis Jr. Dr. Harry Davis was a holdover from a simpler time in medical history, when the country doctor would visit his patients at home when they got sick and, when necessary, take payment in things other than money. "I remember people would sometimes pay him in tomatoes or produce they grew in their gardens," said Davis' daughter Mary Winn Nelson. Bristow Marchant Dr. Harry Davis was a holdover from a simpler time in medical history, when the country doctor would visit his patients at home when they got sick and, when necessary, take payment in things other than money. "I remember people would sometimes pay him in tomatoes or produce they grew in their gardens," said Davis' daughter Mary Winn Nelson. Harry Augustus Davis Jr. practiced medicine in Sumter for nearly 40 years before his retirement in 1983. The boy who grew up near the Brogdon community in rural Sumter County would go on to serve as a medical officer aboard a U.S. naval vessel during World War II before putting his medical skills to service back in his home community. He died last Saturday at the age of 94. Davis was born in 1918 in Greenwood, where his mother's family lived, but grew up in Sumter with his father, a veteran of World War I. He first lived downtown and then, after his mother passed away when he was 8, in the country near Graham Baptist Church. He graduated from Sumter High School in 1936 and the College of Charleston in 1940, before attending Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia. Then, like so many men of his generation, he answered the call of duty during World War II, serving on board the USS Nestor and USS Vestal from 1942 to 1946. "One ship was lost in a typhoon in the Pacific and the other was shot up," recalls daughter Pam Davis. "He used to say he never wanted to take a cruise because he went on his cruise during the war." When the war was over, Davis returned to Sumter and opened a general practice, serving the community for the next four decades. "I went on house calls with him when I was little," Pam Davis said. "He would go all the way out to Mayesville in the middle of the night to treat someone." Harry "Inky" Davis remembers learning to drive with his father when he went out to make house calls. "He would teach me on dirt roads and stuff, drive a short street every now and then," the younger Davis said. "That was probably the most time I spent with him." Inky Davis credits the hunting and fishing trips he took with his father with inspiring his future career as a fishing guide. "Daddy was always kind-natured," he said. "I asked him once what the highest charge at his office ever was and he said $10." "I think about how much he gave of himself," Nelson said. "He loved what he did, and he was a great diagnostician. Today, doctors have all these tests they run, but he listened to his patients and made a deduction." A doctor making house calls sounds nostalgic in this day and age, but it wasn't always safe. Davis was deputized by the sheriff's office, and Pam remembers her father carrying a gun on some calls in case he ran into any trouble. Davis married Alfreda Lytle Davis and later remarried Laurie Tilley Davis. He raised two daughters, a son, Harry "Inky" Davis III, and two stepdaughters Kathleen Haynes Weaver and Leslie Haynes. In addition to his medical practice, Davis was active with the Kiwanis Club, American Legion Post #15 and Santee Summer Ministries, as well as being a member of Aldersgate United Methodist Church. "He was very active. He participated in everything," said Stanley DuBose, past president of the Kiwanis, who remembers Davis as being there "forever." "He was a fine fellow, and he was held in the highest regards by all the members." "We got introduced to each other because we were both named 'Harry,'" said Harry Burchstead, another former Kiwanis president, as was Davis. "He was always part of our Pancake Day breakfast, until he got too sick to participate." Davis served as president of the Sumter Medical Association, and was chief of staff at Tuomey Regional Medical Center, where he spent many of his last days. "There was one worker at the hospital who would take him to have his X-rays done. He called him 'Dr. Harry' and told him he was his doctor growing up," Nelson said. "He told him 'you took care of me, now I'm going to take care of you.'" Davis' friends and family will remember him as a good doctor, loving father and engaged member of his community. He was buried Monday in a private ceremony in a family plot. - Bristow Marchant Posted in Local news, News on Friday, December 28, 2012 [1, 2, 3] | |
| MILI | He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He serve as a medical officer aboard a U.S. naval vessel during World War II. Then, like so many men of his generation, he answered the call of duty during World War II, serving on board the USS Nestor and USS Vestal from 1942 to 1946. "One ship was lost in a typhoon in the Pacific and the other was shot up," recalls daughter Pam Davis. "He used to say he never wanted to take a cruise because he went on his cruise during the war." [2, 3] | |
| _UID | 1F0FEA18AFF442C18622D3451742127F8010 | |
| Death | 22 Dec 2012 | Tuomey Regional Medical Center, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina |
| Burial | 24 Dec 2012 | Davis Cemetery [2] |
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| Person ID | I109782 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 13 Dec 2015 | |
| Father | Harry Augustus DAVIS, Sr., b. 29 May 1890, Sumter County, South Carolina d. 27 May 1977, Tuomey Hospital, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 86 years) | |
| Mother | Mary Sue SPROLES, b. 11 Apr 1891, Greenwood, South Carolina d. 27 Jun 1926, Tuomey Hospital, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 35 years) | |
| _UID | A000A06EFC40412BBFF1282D308F5D02797C | |
| _UID | A000A06EFC40412BBFF1282D308F5D02797C | |
| Family ID | F75874 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 | Alfreda LYTLE, b. 19 Aug 1921, Tyrone, Pennsylvania d. 17 Sep 1977, at her home (Age 56 years) | |||||||
| _UID | F4176FF540F84F13A60BF99BB399915984F1 | |||||||
| _UID | F4176FF540F84F13A60BF99BB399915984F1 | |||||||
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| Family ID | F49337 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |||||||
| Family 2 | Laurie Elizabeth TILLEY, b. 1919, Dunham, North Carolina d. 27 Jan 2014, National Healthcare, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 95 years) | |
| _UID | 90290DB8BAC24141A0CD79EBEA59F640C63D | |
| _UID | 90290DB8BAC24141A0CD79EBEA59F640C63D | |
| Family ID | F190563 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 3 Feb 2014 | |
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