Rev. James J. Davis, O.P.

Providence: Davis, Rev. James Joseph, O.P., age 88, died early Thursday morning, July 28, at Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket. He was a member of the Dominican Friars (Order of Preachers) of the Eastern Province of St. Joseph and of the Priory of St. Thomas Aquinas at Providence College, with residence more recently at Mount St. Rita Health Center in Cumberland.Born James Hubert Davis on April 14, 1923, in Pittsfield, Mass., a son of the late Hubert James Davis and the late Edna Frances (Morrison) Davis, he attended PC from 1940-1943 and received his B.A. in education in 1946 after serving on active duty in World War II in the Philippines and Japan as a technician in the U.S. Army Infantry.In 1946 he entered the Dominican novitiate at St. Rose Priory in Springfield, Ky., where he received the religious name Mark Joseph and made his simple profession there on August 5, 1947. He studied from A�A�A�1947-1949 at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio, and then at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. On June 4, 1953, he was ordained a priest by the Most Rev. John M. McNamara, D.D., auxiliary bishop of Washington, at St. Dominic Church in the Nation's Capital.After earning his bachelor's, licentiate, and lectorate degrees in sacred theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, Fr. Davis embarked on a teaching career that took him to St. Catherine Junior College, Emmanuel College, Archbishop/Cardinal Cushing College, Wellesley College, the Pontifical Faculty of the ImmaculateConception/Dominican/House of Studies, Albertus Magnus College, (during which he was a research fellow at Yale Divinity School), La Salle College, St. Mary's College, and Cardinal Cushing School of Theology for the Laity. In 1960-1961 he attended the University of Montreal in Quebec, where he received a doctor of theology degree in 1962.Fr. Davis joined the PC faculty in 1968. He taught religious studies and theology until 1994, when he retired with the rank of associate professor. However, he continued his preaching and ministering to the community and frequently lectured on theological topics to lay groups. He served as pastor of St. Dominic Church in Detroit from 1989-1991 while on leave from PC. His articles, chapters, book reviews, and letters to the editor appeared in publications ranging from scholarly foreign-language periodicals such as Estudios Josefinos to popular magazines like Newsweek.Fr. Davis was a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma (a national scholastic honor society for Catholic colleges and universities), the Mariological Society of America, the Catholic Biblical Association, the Catholic Theological Society, the College Theology Society, and the North American Society of Josephology. He had a particular devotion to St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, foster father of Jesus, and patron of the Universal Church. He is survived by three sisters: Rosalie D. Nocera of Providence; Marion V. Davis of Hamden, Conn.; and Edna D. Lane of Pasadena, Calif. A fourth sister, Natalie E. Davis of North Providence, predeceased him.His body will be received into the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Priory of St. Thomas Aquinas at PC at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29. A wake will continue until 7:00 pm., when the Office of the Dead will be chanted. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for him on Saturday, July 30, at 11:00 a.m., in the same chapel. He will then be laid to rest in the Dominican Friars' Cemetery on the PC campus.In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Providence College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 1 Cunningham Square, Providence, R.I. 02918, for the Dominican Scholarship Fund.Arrangements by Russell J. Boyle and Son Funeral Home, 331 Smith St., Providence. Boyleandsonfuneralhome.com