Johnny Davis

Johnny Davis

It is with great sorrow we announce the passing of John Phillip Davis, our loving and accomplished husband, father, Grandaddy, and dear friend. He passed away the afternoon of January 8th, 2021 surrounded by friends and family after his persistent battle with Dementia.

John or Johnny as he was affectionately known by friends and family was born in the front bedroom of his mother and father’s house in Stephens, Arkansas on January 10th, 1935.
Johnny was always a precocious child he would often climb his fence and sneak over to his aunt’s house. He started working in the oil field at only age 16 for his uncle Colon (C.G.) Davis.
In 1968, he began working for Tristate Oil Tools. He was selected as one of the first fishing tool hands to be sent overseas.

Over the years Johnny worked his way up in the company and served as Regional Manager, Senior Product Specialist, and finally Staff Technologist. In his final years, he totaled 29 patents and 15 active patent applications at the time of his retirement.

It was said in his retirement celebration, “Opportunity Profile? John never needed an OP. He just did what he knew was correct. And customers from the Gulf Coat, to Australia, to California, and Alaska had the highest confidence in John’s ability and judgement. He is known worldwide by the roughest roughnecks to the company presidents of the largest drilling companies.”

One of his co-workers relayed Johnny’s great sense of humor with this story. “I had the privilege of being with John on presentations from Louisiana to Alaska and California and Texas. I always remember him telling the audience that he was from LA and their response to his certainly not from LA accent, then he would explain Lower Arkansas.

Johnny was an avid golfer and won many tournaments including his greatest win at the Australia-Asia Golf Tournament held in Melbourne, Australia. He also helped construct the Dixie Golf Course in Laurel, Mississippi. He loved the sport so much that he taught his daughter Tammy and son-in-law Mark how to play. He would often tell his son-in-law that he would
make more birdies if he hit the ball closer to the hole.

Although golfing was his greatest joy in life, he also loved to go fishing. He had the most fun catching salmon with his son John Sheldon on the banks of the Swanson river in Alaska.
In his free time, Johnny also liked to fix things. It has been said that he was the best Southern Engineer on the planet!

Johnny is survived by his wife of 63 years, Joy Arrington Davis; daughter, Tammy Greene, son-in-law Mark Greene, daughter-in-law and her husband, Nancy and Tom Mosely, his granddaughter KJ Greene, his grandsons, Troy and John (Jace) Davis, his sister, Shelda Sanders, his nephew and his wife Hershel and Cheryl Sanders, his nieces Rhonda Sanders and Lynn Wilborn, plus numerous other friends and family.

Mr. Davis is preceded in death by his son, John Sheldon Davis, his mother, Ethyl Davis, and his father, Sheldon Davis.

A celebration of Johnny’s life will be deferred due to the current situation. A private ceremony will be held at the locations he wanted his ashes spread.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the First Baptist Church of Stephens, Arkansas.
223 W. Ruby Stephens, Arkansas 71764

“Imagination is more important than knowledge” -Albert Einstein

“Some men look at things the way they are and ask why? I dream of things that are not and ask why not?” – Robert Kennedy