Court at Law judge dies after 20 years on the bench

Longtime Jefferson County judge John Paul Davis died Feb. 10 at age 74. Davis had been serving as judge of County Court at Law No. 3 for 20 years.

According to his obituary, Davis was born in Bay City on Nov. 9, 1939. He attended local schools and graduated from Hilliard High School in 1958 as an honor student. 

He graduated from Prairie View A&M University in 1963. For the next few years, Davis served in the U.S. Army and worked at Celanese Chemical Company of Bay City. In 1972, he graduated from the University of Houston College of Law. 

Judge Davis served as president emeritus of the Hilliard High School Alumni Association, was inducted in the Hilliard High School Hall of Fame, and was named Distinguished Alumni of Bay City Independent School District.  

He was a life member of the NAACP and recipient of the Beaumont NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also recently named the Martin Luther King Support Group, Inc. Man of the Year for 2014.

He was past president and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and was named both the Chapter Omega Man of the Year and Omega Citizen of the Year.

Judge Davis was an active member of Antioch Baptist Church serving as deacon and on several committees.

Funeral services were held in Beaumont on Feb. 15, with burial at the Eastview Cemetery in Bay City. He is survived by his wife, four children, nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.