Mary McCall Davis

She grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee after her father moved there during WWII. The schools were so good and there were jobs for everyone. She loved growing up there. Everyone knew there was a secret project going on but no one ever discussed it. It was a gated community and very safe. Mary was the oldest of five and was only 15 when her mother died of cancer.

She met the love of her life, Jim Davis, when she was a senior at Oak Ridge High. Jim was a classmate. After graduating he was pre-med at the University of Tennessee and Mary attended a girl’s junior college and graduated. They married in the spring before he started medical school in Memphis. Mary worked at the Baptist Hospital nearby. After finishing med school they settled in Chattanooga. He went into practice with a fellow classmate Jim Hedden. Less than a year into his practice he received a letter saying,”Greetings, your friends and neighbors have chosen you…” He had been drafted and they moved to Colorado Springs for two years. Mary often talked about how they loved those two years in Colorado and they made friends there that lasted a lifetime.

They returned to Chattanooga for Jim’s full-time medical practice on Highway 58. Mary and Jim loved Chattanooga and she was very active as a volunteer for the Chattanooga Symphony and Ronald McDonald House. She loved her church; First Christian Church where she sang in the choir for years and was president of the Kemp Sunday school class. She also led the Women’s Prayer Group for over a decade. She became a deacon in the church and later an elder emeritus.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs James Lindsey McCall of Jellico Tennessee, and her brothers, Jim and John McCall and her sister Fran Myers.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Jim Davis, her brother Bob McCall and four children, Libby D. Gildner (Jim), Angie D. Conroy (Pat), Jenny D. Wamsley (Tom), Barker Davis (Kelly). She adored her 16 grandchildren and her 21 great-grandchildren and had a relationship with each of them and room in her heart for all of them. She also was blessed with many good friends that enriched her life and was so thankful for the wonderful ladies that loved and took such good care of her at the end of her life.

This obituary was written by our Mom within the last year of her life. It is merely a whisper of the dedication and love she poured into this big ole family of ours. She will be forever missed and always treasured in our hearts.

Due to circumstances surrounding our Dad we will have a small family only graveside service and a celebration of life at a later date.

Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com

Arrangements are under the care of Chattanooga Funeral Home Crematory and Florist East Chapel, 404 South Moore Rd. East Ridge, TN 37412.