Lonnie Davis

Alonzo Lee Davis, Sr. – “Lonnie”- age, 95, owner of Davis Chevrolet, Inc., of Lexington, NC died Monday, June 5, 2006 at Lexington Health Care. Mr. Davis was born in Winston-Salem, NC in 1911 and moved with his family to Lexington at age 7. He graduated from Lexington Senior High School in 1931 where he was a stand-out football player, earning a football scholarship to UNC-Chapel Hill. He left UNC after his first year to return home to a job at Lexington Silk Mill during the depression. In 1933, he joined his father Charles Davis in business. Charles Davis was the owner of what was then Davidson Motor Company, a Chevrolet dealership. Upon his father’s death in 1938, he became general manager and franchise dealer. In 1966, Mr. Davis moved the business from its original location downtown to its current location on N. Main St. Ext. and changed the name to Davis Chevrolet. He served as general manager, President, and owner until 1985 when his son Lonnie Davis, Jr. took over as general manager. The business is now run by his grandson Lee Davis, making Davis Chevrolet the oldest family owned Chevrolet dealership in the Southeast. Mr. Davis was active in several automobile dealer organizations, namely serving on the board of directors of the NC Auto Dealers Association from 1964-70 and as a member of the Chevrolet Dealers Council. Mr. Davis also was active in the Lexington community. He was an emeritus board member of Lexington State Bank, having served on the board since 1950; past president and board member of the Lexington Retail Merchants Association; former board member of the Lexington YMCA; and a member of First Baptist Church where he had served as a Deacon. Along with friend Casper Timberlake and then fire chief Norman Owen, Mr. Davis was instrumental in establishing the first rescue squad in Davidson County in the mid-1940s. Mr. Davis was past president and life member of the Lexington Kiwanis Club. He was particularly proud of his role in leading the committee of Kiwanians who in 1953 built and opened what is now Kamp Kiwanis, which provides summer camp opportunities for approximately 200 underprivileged children in Davidson County each year. He helped bring the Davidson County Agricultural Fair to Lexington in the late 1940s to raise the funds needed to build and maintain this camp. Mr. Davis was preceded in death by his parents Annie Crater and Charles Lee Davis, his first wife Virginia Myers, and five siblings: Russell Davis, Gray Davis, Marshall Davis, Louise Wintzer, and Ruth Fanslau. He is survived by his wife Jeanne S. Davis; his sister Elizabeth Hinkle of Lexington; six children: Virginia Ann Carson and husband Bill of St. Petersburg, Fl.; Lonnie Davis, Jr. of Lexington; Mary Hedrick and husband George of Winston-Salem; Mike Davis and wife Sonja of Lexington; Dan Davis and wife Emma of Cary; and Saundra Westervelt and husband Van of Greensboro; 18 grandchildren and over 20 great-grandchildren. The funeral will be held at the First Baptist Church of Lexington, W. Third Ave., on Thursday, June 8 at 3:00pm. The family will receive visitors after the funeral in the fellowship hall of the church. The burial will be held at Forest Hill Memorial Park on Friday morning for family only. Employees of Davis Chevrolet and member of the Lexington Kiwanis Club will be seated as honorary pallbearers and are asked to gather at the church at 2:30 PM Thursday. Memorial gifts can be directed to: Kamp Kiwanis Foundation, c/o Fidelity Bank, 114 W. 2nd Ave., Lexington, NC 27292; First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 436, Lexington, NC 27293; or Furman University, Saunders-Davis Scholarship, 3300 Poinsett Hwy., Greenville, SC 29613.