Paul M. Davis, Jr.

Paul McMillian Davis, Jr. (September 1, 1919 – February 12, 2007) was an orthopedic surgeon, non-fiction writer, and a real estate developer from Alexandria, Louisiana.

Background
Davis was born in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana to Dr. Paul M. Davis, Sr., and the former Lilleymae Sentell (1895–1981). He earned his undergraduate degree from Louisiana Tech University (then Louisiana Polytechnic Institute) in Ruston.

From 1944 to 1945, Davis was a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps in the European theater of World War II. He also served in the Korean War; in 1953, he was awarded the Bronze Star by the Far East Command.

In 1951, Davis married the former Frances Bolton, the younger daughter of Alexandria banker James Calderwood Bolton and the former Frances Sample (1902–1986). Mrs. Davis was a niece of Robert H. Bolton, another Alexandria banker-businessman, and his first wife, Peggy Bolton.

Medical career
Having procured his medical degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Davis completed his orthopedic residency at Charity Hospital of New Orleans (popularly called "Big Charity"). He was on the staff at both Alexandria hospitals, Rapides Regional Medical Center (formerly the Baptist Hospital) and the Roman Catholic-affiliated Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital. For a time, he had been a clinical professor of orthopedics at Tulane Medical School.

Davis' medical articles were published in the Bulletin of Tulane University, the Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society, the Journal of Trauma, and the Southern Medical Journal. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery and the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Davis was a volunteer orthopedic consultant at Huey P. Long Medical Center, a charity hospital in Pineville, the Alexandria Veterans Administration Hospital, also located in Pineville, and the Rapides Parish Handicapped Children’s Clinic in Alexandria. Davis was a member of the Rapides Parish Emergency Medical Board.

Civic figure
Davis was a former president of the Attakapas Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In 2005, the Louisiana Purchase Council of the Boy Scouts created the annual "Dr. & Mrs. Paul M. Davis Distinguished Citizen Award".

Dr. and Mrs. Davis have been donors to the Republican Party, including Bobby Jindal, elected governor of Louisiana in 2007, and the unsuccessful congressional race waged in 2004 by former State Representative Jock Scott of Alexandria.

Davis served actively in various capacities for the First United Methodist Church of Alexandria and was a board member of the Methodist Children’s Home, an orphanage in Ruston. He was a board member of the former Rapides Bank and Trust Company once owned by the Bolton family. Rapides Bank later became a part of Bank One Corporation. Davis was a member of Kiwanis International.

In 1990, the Davises ventured into the field of real estate and established "The Lake District", a multi-phase development located along Louisiana Highway 28 West, also known as the Leesville Highway.

Death and family
Retired from active medical practice, Davis died at his residence. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Martha Davis Plummer of Bossier City, who was married to the late James B. Plummer, Jr., and Lilleybeth Davis Webb (1930–2007) of Colorado Springs, an artist and the widow of Earl A. Webb. She died fifteen days before the passing of her brother.

In addition to his wife Frances, he was survived by two sons, James Bolton Davis of Alexandria, and Paul M. Davis, III, and wife Beth of Atlanta, Georgia; one daughter, Frances Sentell Davis of Raleigh, North Carolina; and four grandchildren, Paul M. Davis, IV, Stephen Bolton Davis, James Stafford Davis, and Catherine Calderwood Davis.



Services were held on February 15, 2007, at the First United Methodist Church in Alexandria. Pallbearers were grandsons Paul Davis, IV, and Stephen Davis, nephews James B. Plummer, III, Kenneth Plummer, and Paul M. Plummer, and Dr. Cedric W. Lowrey of Alexandria. Interment was in the Bolton plot at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.