[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 184 (Thursday, December 17, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REMEMBERING THE LIFE OF GEORGE DAVIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 17, 2015

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the life of George 
Davis; a friend, an honorable leader, and a valued member of our Toledo 
community.
  George Davis was born in Toledo, Ohio on July 11, 1927 to Polly Ann 
and George Davis. He grew up on Scott Street and from the age of 6 sold 
newspapers and did odd jobs to help his family in the Depression.
  He was a Scott High School student when he went to work at Willys-
Overland Motors at the age of 15. He retired in 1993 as a 
representative for Local 12, United Auto Workers. George was a veteran 
of the Army Air Corps.
  George Davis became the first African-American appointed as a union 
steward and served as chairman of the Jeep unit. He sat on the Jeep 
executive committee and, when the former American Motors Corporation 
owned the Toledo plant, George was a leader in a UAW intracorporate 
council. When he retired, he was on the state board of UAW's Community 
Action Program.
  George Davis served the Toledo Branch, NAACP, as the President, first 
vice president, chairman of committees and as a nuts-and-bolts member. 
In 2012 he was among the honorees recognized at an annual luncheon of 
the African American Legacy Project of Northwest Ohio.
  George Davis is survived by his sons, George III, Larry, Calvin and 
Norman; stepdaughters Helen and Patricia Webb; stepsons Walter Webb III 
and Robert Webb; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren, as well 
as step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren. His wife of 25 
years, Gladys, died in 2002.
  George Davis was a great leader in all realms--his family, his 
church, his chosen profession as a union officer, his civil rights 
advocacy, and as a valued community leader whose opinion was sought and 
appreciated. He was blessed with an exceptional mind and an exceptional 
instinct. He knew how to read people, how to anticipate them, and how 
to counsel them. He had a gift for politics in the best sense. His 
goals were to serve people and to take their cause to those who could 
make a difference. And he did. He was an honorable leader, an 
indefatigable ally, and a courageous and unyielding advocate for people 
whose voices needed uplifting. He had a God given talent to accomplish 
good works, and he did.
  George Davis led our community to a better place every day of his 
working life, which extended to the day of his homegoing. May God bless 
him and bring peace to his family and friends as they bear this 
enormous loss. And may George Davis' precious talents, good nature, and 
unyielding spirit carry his legacy forward and inspire others to 
emulate his life.

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