George Davis Jr. Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

George Davis, Jr., a longtime union and civil rights leader who, out of the spotlight, worked to help individuals and the community, died Monday in his South Toledo home. He was 88. He had been recovering from health woes after a fall in early August, his son Calvin said. In 2012, Mr. Davis was among honorees recognized at an annual luncheon of the African American Legacy Project of Northwest Ohio. Mr. Davis went to work at Willys-Overland Motors at age 15 and retired in 1993 as a representative for Local 12, United Auto Workers. In between, he became the first African-American appointed as a union steward and served as chairman of the Jeep unit. He was on the Jeep executive committee and, when the former American Motors Corp. owned the Toledo plant, Mr. Davis was a leader in a UAW intra-corporate council. In retirement, he was on the state board of UAW's Community Action Program. "His mind never stopped," said Lloyd Mahaffey, retired UAW regional director. "He was thinking all the time about what's next and what we need to do." Mr. Davis was first called to leadership by the late Richard T. Gosser, the legendary UAW leader, Mr. Mahaffey said. When Mr. Gosser contacted him, he said, "'George, I want you to be a chief steward at the plant,'" Mr. Mahaffey said. "That was a full-time job and a big job. George said, 'I'm willing to do it, but I don't want to be chief steward just for people of color. I want to represent everybody.' Dick [Gosser] said, 'If you said anything else, I wouldn't want you.'" Mr. Davis emphasized labor and management working together, said Ray Wood, president of UAW Local 14 and president of the Toledo Branch, NAACP, a post formerly held by Mr. Davis. "He was a strong union leader who represented his people with passion and commitment," Mr. Wood said. "I think he was one of the first guys in the community who realized it had to be a partnership." The local leaders he admired "got involved in every aspect of the community through labor, politics, and civil rights," Mr. Davis' son Calvin said. And Mr. Davis followed their example. William Brower, the late Blade columnist and associate editor, wrote in 1982 that three decades of Mr. Davis' life were entwined with the Toledo branch of the NAACP. "He first made his imprint as a nuts-and-bolts member - and later chairman - of several key committees of the civil rights organization," Mr. Brower wrote. "Then he spent more than five years as first vice president before finally yielding to persistent - but friendly - arm twisting to take charge." Mr. Davis had separate stints as president, in the early 1980s and in the early 1990s. Some criticized him as emphasizing membership more than activism, Mr. Brower wrote, but Mr. Davis believed that fund-raising and membership building were leverage to gain economic and political power. The Toledo branch solved "problems of discrimination just by sitting down with the right people," Mr. Davis told The Blade in 1983. "The most essential thing is to have a good working relationship with the power structure of the community," Mr. Davis said. "You don't need a lot of hell-raising and publicity to get that done." Mr. Wood, the current NAACP president who has known Mr. Davis since childhood, said he "encouraged me to get involved and do my best, and he was there as a mentor." "He was a strong-willed man, and that's what people look for in leaders," Mr. Wood said. "He wasn't arrogant and didn't want to be in the spotlight." Mr. Davis was a former vice chairman of the Lucas County Democratic Party and precinct committeeman. He was born July 11, 1927, to Polly Ann and George Davis and grew up on Scott Street near downtown. From the age of 6, he sold newspapers and did odd jobs to help the family in the Depression. He was a Scott High School student when he went to work at Willys-Overland. He was a veteran of the Army Air Corps, serving stateside. Mr. Davis' wife of 25 years, Gladys, died in 2002. Surviving are his sons, George III, Larry, Calvin, and Norman; stepdaughters Helen and Patricia Webb; stepsons Walter Webb III and Robert Webb; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren, as well as step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Monday in Dale-Riggs Funeral Home Chapel. Services will be noon Tuesday in St. Mark's Baptist Church, with family hour at 11 a.m. The family suggests tributes to St. Mark's Baptist, where he was a longtime member. .

George Davis Jr.

December 7, 2015