James Howard Davis

North Richland Hills -- James Howard Davis, 90, entered eternal life on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.
Service: 10 a.m. Wednesday at River Trails Ward Temple, Hurst, Texas Stake. Interment: Mount Olivet Cemetery, Fort Worth. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Williams and Lucas Funeral Home, Fort Worth.
J. Howard was born in Fort Worth on Dec. 17, 1925, to Robert M. Davis Jr. and Ima Dell Davidson. He grew up in Fort Worth, graduating from Carter-Riverside High School in 1943. He did not walk across the stage but received his diploma in the principal's office as he was already attending Texas A&M. He attended the summer and fall semester of 1943 before being drafted on March 17, 1944, into the U.S. Navy. He served on the USS Oklaoosa as an apprentice seaman, second class seaman and ended with the rank of first class seaman. He was in a boat division for troop transport as a crew member of a landing craft. His ship covered the South Pacific going in with the second or third wave of personnel. They did see action at Okinawa Beach. Upon his return he went back to Texas A&M, graduating June 1950 with a civil engineering degree. His first job was with W.O. Pelphry Inc. where he helped install the sewer lines in Mart. He worked for W.O. Pelphry, Inc. for four years from 1950 to 1954. In order to become a lineman in 1954 he went to work for Reaves and Gregory, a consulting engineering firm in Fort Worth. He next worked for Joe W. Rady and Associates, another consulting engineering firm in Fort Worth. In 1976 he went to work for the city of Fort Worth Water Department. He was the layout and supervisor of construction at the Village Creek Sewage Plant. The last few years J. Howard was the inspector for Transportation Public Works. He retired in December 1988 after working for the city of Fort Worth for 18 years.
J. Howard joined the Boy Scouts in April 1938 when he was 12 years old, Troop 236, in Tyler. He transferred to Troop 17 in Fort Worth where he got his Eagle in 1942. He remained a Boy Scout up until his death. In 1965 he transferred to Troop 88 in Fort Worth and in 1976 he joined Boy Scout Troop 343 in Hurst. In 1971 he received Virgil Honor of the Order of the Arrow, 1972 he received his Silver Beaver, an Award of Merit in the Mustang District and was doing adult training for Longhorn Council. In 1976 and 1977 he was the course director for Wood Badge SC88 and SC212. In 1989 he was course director, training the boys at Twin Arrows of Troop 124. He also received the Scouters Key, Duty to God, was a district commissioner for three years, was a scoutmaster two times, on staff for 13 Wood Badge training sessions and a four-bead Wood Badger. He served on the troop committee for his ward many times and was the chairman of this committee for three years. In 2015 he gave the Longhorn Council of the Boys Scouts of America $10,000 to erect a sign at Worth Ranch. He attended several Boy Scout Jamborees. In 1973 Farragut State Park, Idaho, August of 1977 went to the National Scout Jamboree at Moraine State Park, Pa., in 1981, the National Scout Jamboree moved to Fort A.P. Hill, Va., 1983 was on staff at the 15th World Scout Jamboree held at Kananaskis Country, an area of Provincial Park 4,000 feet in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 80 miles west of Calgary, Alberta, where he was on staff; 1985 Fort A.P. Hill, Va.; 1989 Fort A.P. Hill, Va.
He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1976. He was a member of the River Trails Ward, Hurst Texas Stake.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and his older sister, Dorothy Bob, in 1972.
Survivors: His younger sister, Virginia Lou Davis of Wise County; and several nephews and nieces.