West St. Mary Civic Center now bears Davis' name

A dedication ceremony for the Joseph “Tooney” Davis Jr. West St. Mary Civic Center was held Saturday, from 3 to 5 p.m.
The ceremony consisted of prayer, music, recognition and recollections from Davis’ friends, colleagues and family, culminating in a ribbon cutting ceremony and an unveiling of the center’s new signage.
Davis was an accomplished figure in St. Mary Parish.
In 1964, he was the first African American employed at Cabot Corporation in Bayou Sale, and he and his wife became the owners of Davis Trucking Service. In 1990, he also became a sugarcane farmer and established Joe Davis Farms.
During both companies’ lifespans, Davis employed over 30 people.
Davis was also an accomplished politician. In 1967, he became one of the first two African Americans to be elected to the Police Jury in St. Mary Parish.
During his 32 years in public service, Davis saw roads paved, resurfaced and named, fire districts established, street lights erected, the groundbreaking for the Elizabeth Barabin Davis Park and Water District Plant, solid waste collection implemented, ground work laid for the Port of West St. Mary and the Intracoastal Canal Bridge, and he secured the monies for the District 1 Sewage Project.
Davis was also elected to the St. Mary Parish School Board. There he reappointed the district by increasing African American representation in the districts, and supported the tax for construction of West St. Mary High and Boudreaux Middle Schools.
It was said of Davis that one of his greatest desires was to have a civic center built to serve the Four Corners and surrounding communities. The West St. Mary Civic Center was completed and dedicated in 2005, three years before Davis’ passing.
Other accomplishments of Davis include being one of the first African Americans to serve on Teche Electric Cooperative board where he also served as president and vice president, and he was a member and vice president of the Minority Trucking and Transportation Development Corporation.
Of his father, Reverend Trent Davis said, “He was fair. As a dad he was hard on us, and when we got home from school we had to change the oil or tires on trucks, and we didn’t want to do that. But, he was instilling in us work ethics and what it takes to make it in this life.
“And I’ll be honest, my feelings have mellowed in time about some of the people my dad tried to help, who tried to tear him down. But, I’m so glad that he made me work, and that now his work speaks in me.”
Ruth Davis, widow of Joseph Davis, said of him, “His vision did not stop with this building (the civic center). This building was for better things to come for all.”
She also said, “In 1967, when he entered the political arena, he was not afraid to storm. He had learned how to sail his ship. And he always, always carried us with him.”
Dr. Gary Wiltz, CEO and Clinical CHO of Teche Action Clinic served on the St. Mary Parish Council with Davis and sat next to him.
Wiltz recalled that during a meeting, a colleague of Davis’ and his was delivering a speech to the council during which he began to get so riled that he showed physical provocations of confrontation with Wiltz. To which, Davis is reported to have stood up behind his friend, cocked back his arm, and said to the provocateur, “Take another step and I’ll set this hamfist on you.”
And confrontation, thus affronted by more formidable confrontation, was avoided.
The Joseph “Tooney” Davis Jr. West St. Mary Civic Center is located at 1498 La. 318, Sorrell Road, at US 90 and can be reached by phone at 337-276-4896.