Donald Davis

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Biography

My name is Donald Arthur Davis, but I go by D.A. Davis. I'll soon be 65 (02/05/1957), and live in Bay, Arkansas. I was born and raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas, a city of 75,000 in northeast Arkansas, about 6 miles northwest of Bay, Arkansas. Jonesboro is what we call a "hub community", because it's a city where everybody in northeast Arkansas, and southeast Missouri come to shop, get medical attention, have a night out, etc.. On any given day, Jonesboro is a city of 75,000 with 250,000 people in the city.

I started school in the Jonesboro School District, Hillcrest Elementary, Douglas MacArthur Junior High School, and Jonesboro High School thru the 10th grade. At the end of my 10th grade year (1973) a tornado struck Jonesboro, and destroyed the school, among several homes and businesses. Temporary schools were set up the following years at the Fairgrounds, and several local churches until the new school could be built. I could see the temporary school at the Fairgrounds from my house, but chose to transfer to the Bay School District to finish my Junior and Senior years. I drove back and forth daily with my younger brother and sister for my last two years. I'm a graduate of Bay High School Class of 1975. Two years alter I married a girl on her graduation night (1977), and we bought a house in the city of Bay, and have lived in that same little house for the past 44 years. We've raised two daughters, and now have four grandsons, and two great granddaughters.

I was raised in the auto shops and service stations, starting when I was still in diapers. My Dad, and Uncle, owned both in Jonesboro. Upon finishing school, I went to work at local dealerships. I spent nearly 20 years as a Master Technician for Datsun/Nissan, Mercedes Benz, and GM (Chevrolet, Pontiac, and GMC). I loved my work, and was really good at it. In 1991, I suffered a back injury that ended my career in automotive repair. After 16 months of physical therapy, hospital stays (2), and pain, I re-entered the workforce on the maintenance staff in the Physical Plant at Arkansas State University. I spent 3 months working with the electrical department as a temporary employee before being hired as a full-time supervisor in the Physical Plant, later changed to Facilities Management. I spent the next 12 years doing multiple jobs in the supervisory roles. I then transferred over to the Environmental Health and Safety Department on campus. I spent the next ten years as the Occupational Safety and Emergency Services Coordinator. My responsibilities included occupational safety code enforcement, fire safety and code enforcement, emergency services planning, training, and response, and workplace injury administration. I then took early retirement (07/01/2014) at 56 after 22 years at the University. I was having some health concerns, and stress was adding to the problem.

I now spend my days hanging out at my brother-in-law's truck accessory store piddling with whatever project I have for the day. Also, spend my time working on my genealogy. I'm currently using Ancestry.com, AncestryDNA, My Heritage, LivingDNA, WikiTree, GEDmatch, yourDNAportal, and My True Ancestry to locate the information to find my way thru this maze of years, and individuals, to find out where I came from, and who I am in the whole scale of time and mankind.

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Donald Davis at registration.