Mildred Wallace Simpson Davis

She was born in Smyrna on Nov 6, 1930 to Rosebud Gray Wade and Berkley Louis Simpson. When

she was a teenager the family moved to Beaufort where her father built a house on Front Street.

Mildred attended Meredith College with a plan to study accounting. She said that women were not

normally accountants, so she decided to become a math teacher. After earning her degree, she

returned to Beaufort and was hired as a teacher at Smyrna High School. During those years, Mildred

commuted to East Carolina College (University) where she earned her master’s degree. While

teaching in Smyrna, Mildred met Lewis Douglas Davis, the son of Denard Lewis Davis and Mamie

Grady. Douglas was born in Davis. On May 28, 1955, Douglas and Mildred were married there in the

Free Will Baptist Church parsonage.

As is the case among people in Carteret County, Mildred and Doug were distant cousins, both being

descendants of William Davis, the founder of Davis Shore. Mildred’s Simpson roots can also be

traced to those Simpsons who settled Carteret County.

While teaching in Smyrna, Mildred gave birth to her first child, Richard, in Morehead City on May 2,

1958. She had to leave her teaching job in Smyrna before the semester ended. That year the

yearbook staff dedicated the “Whispering Pines Annual” to her and Annie Salter. A few months later

Mildred and Doug moved to Delta, Pennsylvania where Doug took a teaching job in Harford County,

Maryland.

On January 21, 1962, Mildred gave birth to her second child, Lisa. On the way to the Women’s

Hospital in Baltimore, Lisa was delivered in the back of the ambulance by Hugh Poff, assisted by

Doug. Mr. Poff, the local barber, was also the mayor and the fire chief in Delta. A newspaper article

related the story stating that the baby was fine, but the father did not fare so well.

In 1962, Mildred and family moved to Havelock where Doug continued his career as an industrial

arts teacher. In 1965, they built a house in New Bern where she lived until her recent death. Mildred

picked up her teaching career at Havelock High School in 1965 and remained there for 30 years.

Doug passed away in 1999.

Mildred and Doug were always involved in the work of their church. She was well known for her

holiday meals, especially her hams, and her hospitality to visiting ministers and missionaries. She

loved to read, work crossword puzzles and play solitaire. After she retired, she would go to the

library and check out several books at a time. She became very frustrated when reading became

impossible. She was not a social butterfly, but was happy to assist in the background where she

could. She would rather wash the dishes than cook the meal. Her house was always immaculate,

her papers always organized, and she could tell you where anything was located, except for one of

her many pairs of glasses.

Mildred leaves behind her son Richard Davis and his wife Pam of Murfreesboro, Tennessee and a

daughter Lisa and her husband Rick Goodman of New Bern. She was very proud of her

grandchildren: Lewis Brandon Davis, his wife Randi and their son Berkley Randall of Florence,

Alabama; Alexander Davis and his daughter Adley of Gallatin, Tennessee; Samantha Davis and her

husband Joseph Nichols of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Jessie Goodman and her husband Addison

Johnson of Bear Grass; Kate, Maddie and Luke Goodman of New Bern. She also leaves behind a

brother Jack Simpson and his son Jay of Morgan City, Louisiana; an ex-sister-in-law Betty Simpson

of Downers Grove, Illinois, and her loving sister-in-law Sylvia Jean Fulcher of Davis and her family.

A celebration service was held on Sunday, December 18, at Cotten Funeral Home in New Bern, and

she was laid to rest in the Greenleaf Memorial Park.