Harold L. Davis

Harold L. Davis, age 84, of Big Spring, died on Monday, October 13, 2008 at his home. Funeral services will be at 2:00 PM, Saturday, October 18, 2008 at the First Baptist Church with Dr. Kenneth Patrick, of San Angelo, officiating. Interment will follow at Trinity Memorial Park.The family will receive guests on Friday, October 17, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home.Harold was born on February 17, 1924 in Denton County. He graduated from Denton High School at age 15. He attended the University of North Texas for three years where he was President of his Fraternity. He lettered on the basketball team and helped lead the team to a third place finish at the National Tournament.World War II came along during this time and he joined the United States Marine Corps Officer Training Program. During this time he was able to complete his Bachelors Degree from Louisiana Tech University. After completing boot camp and officer training school, and receiving his commission, he was assigned to the Fourth Marine Corps Division in the Pacific. During the battle of Iwo Jima, Harold was wounded and received the Purple Heart. Despite his wounds, he continued in command of his company and withheld a strong enemy counter attack accounting for more than 100 Japanese being annihilated. For this action, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal.After returning from the war, Harold went back to the University of North Texas where he completed his Masters Degree. It was there that Harold met and fell in love with his future bride, Janell Wood. They were married on July 14, 1947 on the Bride and Groom Radio Program in Hollywood, California.Just prior to the wedding, Harold had accepted the position as the first basketball coach at Howard College. It took him only two years to start a basketball dynasty at Howard. In only four years his young teams had participated in three NJCAA basketball tournaments and won a Conference Championship and State Championship.At this time, since Harold was a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, he was recalled into the Marine Corps for the Korean War. After returning from this tour of duty, he picked up right where he left off with his coaching duties at Howard. His first team finished the year with 34 wins and 4 losses and won the Conference Championship, Regional Championship and reached the Final Four at the NJCAA National Tournament. From that year on, his teams averaged 24 wins and only 8 losses per seasons. In his 11 years at Howard College, his teams won four Conference Championships, qualifing for nine NJCAA Regional Tournaments, earned a berth in five State Tournaments, winning one of them. His Jayhawk squads finished twice as the Regional Finalist and twice were crowned Regional Champions advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament; reaching the Final Four in one tournament. In addition to coaching basketball, he also coached the baseball team winning several championships and led the golf team to two State Championships.It was during these years that Harold and Janell had their three children. Nancy was born on November 7, 1953, but unfortunately lived only a brief 12 hours. Alan was born on December 30, 1954 and Chris was born on November 4, 1957.Because of his successful career at Howard College, Harold was offered the position as head basketball coach at the University of Texas at El Paso. Again, starting with only one returning letterman, he produced a winning team by the second year.In 1961, Harold made a difficult decision to leave his successful coaching career and took on a new challenge in the business world. He returned to Big Spring to join his longtime friend, George McAlister, in the initial stages of Gamco Industries, Inc. His tradition of success continued as he eventually rose to the position of President and Chairman of the Board of Gamco. Later, Gamco was purchased by Siboney Corporation of New York and Harold was appointed as a member of their board. He was soon promoted as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Parent Company with the responsibility of oversight of their eight subsidiary companies.Harold was also a very dedicated civic worker. At one time, he found himself serving on 10 different community boards at the same time. He served three separate terms on the Big Spring Chamber of Commerce Board and two separate terms on the West Texas Chamber of Commerce Board in Abilene. He also served on the Boards of the United Way, Boy Scouts, YMCA, Howard County Hospital Authority, Medical Center Memorial Hospital, Big Spring Country Club, American Business Club, Howard County Tax Appraisal and two terms on the City Parks and Recreation. He assumed leadership roles as President and Campaign Chairman of the United Fund, Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Board, President of the Big Spring Country Club and Vice Chairman of the Boy Scouts of America. He was also a director and member of the Executive Committee of the Security State Bank.Harold's all-time favorite Board was Howard College where he was appointed as a Trustee in 1971, and then subsequently elected to the position six times by the voters of Howard County Precinct 3, serving for 37 years until the time of his death. He served as the Chairman of the Baord of Trustees on several occasions. He also served as a director for the Howard College San Angelo Foundation. He was very dedicated to Howard College and his obligation as a trustee, making every attempt to attend games and special events throughout the years. Although he had been experiencing failing health, his sense of duty compelled him to continue to attend all monthly Board meetings even as recent as the September 22 Board meeting held on the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf campus of Howard College.He also found time to help with the children of the community by spending 10 years of his life coaching Gra-Y football and basketball and Little League baseball, and Sophmore and Teenage Baseball.At the same time he was busy with his community endeavors, he was also actively serving on the Board of Gamco in addition to serving on the Boards of Siboney Corporation of New York, Miller's Visual Aids in Fort Worth, Deep Flex Plastics in Fort Worth, Siboney Communications in Dallas and Siboney Resources in St. Louis.Harold has been the recipient of many other honors in addition to the recognition he received for his actions on Iwo Jima. He was named as Big Spring's Man of the Year in 1997. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of North Texas in 2000 and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. Other prestigious honors include inductions to the Texas Junior College Coaches Hall of Honor, Howard College's Athletic Hall of Fame and the Western Junior College Athletic Association "Hall of Fame" as the first inductee. In recognition of his leadership in the establishment of a successful athletic program tradition and in honor of his service to Howard College, the Physical Education Building was named the "Harold Davis Fitness Center" in 1990 and the basketball court in the Coliseum arena was named in his honor on the occasion of his induction to the WJCAC Hall of Fame in 2005. Harold was a long time member and Deacon of the First Baptist Church, having joined in 1954. He has served on several vital committees such as the Building Committee for the current church and many times on the Finance and Budget committees. His singing talent and love for Gospel music was shared through solos and quartets throughout the years both in his church as well as in professional performances.Hobbies included watching sports, playing golf with family and long-time friends, actually achieving two Hole-in-Ones, as well as fishing on summer family vacations.He is survived by his wife, Janell of 61 years; one son, Alan Davis and wife, Mary of Abilene; one daughter, Chris Manis and husband, Bob of Aledo; four grandchildren, Rebecca Davis and Claire Davis of Abilene, Lesha Manis of Fort Worth and Matthew Manis of College Station; several nieces and nephews and loving family dog, Taco.He was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Nancy in 1953; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. O. V. Davis; one sister, Mrs. Lauretta Collins and many close friends.Pallbearers will be Mark Adams, Dr. Reg Cranford, Stan Feaster, Terry Hansen, Paschal Odom, A. J. Pirkle, Dr. Charles Warren and Robert Dallas Williams.Honorary pallbearers will be Doc Tindol, R. H. Weaver, Dr. Cheri Sparks, Don McKinney, Harold Hall, Dr. John Freeman, Marie Ethridge, Michael Flores, Murray Murphy, Casey Jones, Jimmy Joe Robinson, Jack Barron, Bill Fletcher and the First Baptist Church Deacon Body.In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorials to Howard College, Harold Davis Scholarship Fund, 1001 Birdwell Lane, Big Spring, Texas 79720.Arrangements under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Big Spring. Online condolences can be made at: www.npwelch.com,