Jim died in Paducah of Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of muscle, on September 10, 1969. His early life, before moving to Paducah, centered around scouting. At Tilghman, we will remember his football playing. Jim played one of his finest games against Louisville Male his senior year and made a crucial block for Terry Croom when Terry ran his famous tide-turning 92 yard touchdown!
Jim studied Civil Engineering at UK, taking time out in 1965 for a back operation for a vertebrae fusion and then for work. While working for Roy Rudolph & Associates, he helped lay out subdivision lots at Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. He took part in laying out the roads to Barkley Lodge.
Jim married a classmate, Margaret Peck, in 1966 and they had one son, James V. Davis III. Margaret passed away in 2003. (You may also read her obituary on the "In Memory" page.)