Phyllis Jean Davis

On Friday, June 21, 2019, Phyllis Jean (Vickers, Jarrell) Davis left an old, sickly body of clay, her spirit straightway returned to God who gave it, and her eternal soul began its never-ending rest in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mother is now reunited with family and friends who finished their work on this Earth, and who have afore inherited everlasting life in the undying company of a loving Savior and a merciful heavenly Father. This was Mom’s blessed hope, one that is now a reality for her.
Mother had suffered the loss of family, including her daddy, Robert Glenn Jarrell, who ran Glenn’s Mobile Station in Bim and played Bluegrass Gospel music, her mother Marcella Nellie Vickers Jarrell, who was thrifty and made the best chocolate pie in Boone County, her “baby” brothers Bruce and Ronald whom she loved like her children, and her faithful and devoted husband of 60 years, Carl Edward Davis. Mom also lost her sister-in-law Peggy Sue Hicks Jarrell, who was an excellent cook, and her brother-in-law Bernard Ray Adkins, who sang in the family’s gospel quartet. Can you just imagine the wonderful, blessed time they are all having after being reunited together in God’s eternal paradise.
Although much of Mother’s life centered around her physical illnesses, her pain, and her aches, she was happy. Mom hadn’t been able to walk for years, but she said she was content in life. She ate and slept well most of the time, watched favorite TV shows, and talked incessantly about growing up in Bim, her short time in Washington, D.C., as a secretary for J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI, visiting Enola Green’s house where her friend, Linda, lived and eating beans and cornbread with Hobert. She reminisced about raising her children, Mark and Angela, in Clinton Camp, and visiting friends Kay Browning, Cotton Vance, Delores Hicks, Sue Brown, Joyce Sykes, and Jane Welch—her next-door neighbor whom she loved dearly. Mom’s latter years were spent in Kanawha County, living some with Dad, then in Highview Unity apartments on the West Side, and the last seven years with son Mark, daughter-in-law Tammy, and only grandchild, Jonathan, on a small farm in Putnam County. Mom always said, however, that she was “a city girl” even though I reminded her of her pet groundhog growing up in Bim by Pond Fork River!
Mother had been a member of Bim Free Will Baptist Church and Freedie Free Will Baptist Church, and oft times was called upon to sing a song or two, without musical accompaniment, and was ready at a moment’s notice to teach a Sunday School lesson or at Wednesday night prayer meeting and Bible Study. Mom was always good about visiting the sick in hospitals or at home, and was a regular at nursing homes when she was able to go. Maybe that’s why she didn’t complain about being bedfast.
Mom was born on March 25, 1938, and was 81 years old. She said often that she never thought she would live this long. She leaves behind her younger sister Joyce Lynn Jarrell Adkins, Bernard’s widow, and her “baby” brother Norwood “Woodie” Jarrell, Sue’s husband—both who were good to call Mom and visit her in the hospital during the last several years. She also leaves behind a sister-in-law Kay Lorrison Jarrell, Ronald’s widow, and Wanda Alexander Jarrell, Bruce’s widow—and special relatives in Florida, Richard “Rich” Dick Jarrell and his sister, Vickie Jarrell. Mom enjoyed the blessings of nieces and nephews Timmy and Lisa, Beverly and Becky, Tommy and Todd, and Julie and Joey—all of whom she loved and spoke of often. Finally, Mother leaves behind her daughter, Angela Suzanne, of whom she was so proud, who was so good to Mom over the years, dedicated to special-needs children, like Jonathan, and who bears Mom’s image as a beautiful and strong woman, and her son, Mark Edward, who did his best to care for her, imperfectly at times, who loved her far more and deeper than he realized, and who is sincerely and forever grateful to all these family, friends, and neighbors who, together, made Mom’s life a life worth living, a life worth remembering, and a life whose example, though not without fault, is worth following in order to someday reunite with her and to rejoice with her in her brand-new, pain-free, and healthy, upright body.
If you have a story to share about Mom, or a picture to bring and show, a Bible verse to read, or a song to sing in her honor and memory, please come and join us on Monday, June 24, 2019, at the old Noah White Cemetery, near Spring Hollow, just off Route 85, across the train tracks, in Bim, Boone County, West Virginia, at 2:00 p.m. Mom didn’t want any flowers, or cards, or gifts.; she just wanted people who knew her, who loved her, and who cared that she lived. The folks at Handley’s, who have been so good to our family for nearly a half century, is helping our family yet again.