Paul Davis

Paul Andrew Davis

Paul Andrew Davis loved climbing high, driving fast, catching fish and fixing things that other people saw as broken. With enough time, his own hands and the right parts, he could take a busted thing and make it fly. He was proud of his younger brother and sister and never left the house without telling his family that he loved them.

On Thursday, June 30, 2022, he posted a photograph on social media of a bass he had just caught with the message, “life couldn’t be better.” A couple of hours later, a week and a day before his 21st birthday, Davis died after his car overturned on a dirt road near Avera.

Davis was born at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, July 8, 2001.  He was baptized at 12-years-old, along with his younger siblings, at New Heights Baptist Church in Martinez. He graduated from Jefferson County High School in 2019 and worked for nearly two years climbing and doing maintenance on cell phone towers for Georgia Carolina Tower Company across the southeastern United States.

He never got over the views he was able to witness from up to 600 feet above the ground. For a young man jittery with reserves of nervous energy, the top of a tower was a quiet place where he could relax, alone with the wind and a beauty he found it hard to describe.

“He could look out and see God’s magnificence and His work all around him,” his father said. “He also worked on four-wheelers and dirt bikes and loved to take them out and put them in the dirt.” Davis loved to drive anything with a motor and was the leader of the Exotic Creations truck group at one time.

He loved puzzling out what was wrong with an engine and bringing it back, and he liked doing it for himself, without anyone else telling him when or how to go about doing it.

“He was a free spirit,” his sister said. “He wanted to fix it when he wanted to fix it and ride it when he wanted to ride it.”

“And he broke it so he could fix it again,” his little brother added.

Davis was adamant that he would be sure his younger siblings had vehicles of their own when they got old enough to drive.

He loved people. In the days since his death there has been an out-pouring on social media from friends and those friends’ parents expressing their grief and showing their love for him.

“We keep hearing from people who say Paul was their best friend,” his father said. “He was just that outgoing. He would literally give the shirt off his back to help a buddy out.”

“The shirt might have some oil stains, but he’d give it,” his sister said.

He is preceded in death by his grandfathers, Jimmy Cunningham and Louis Davis Sr.

His memory will be cherished by his mother, Rachel Hardyman, of Wrens; father, Lee Davis, of Wrens; sister, Savannah Davis and brother, Jacob Davis; uncles Erik (Ashley) Cunningham, Clay Cunningham and Louis Davis II; aunts, Lou Ann (James) Burnett and Laurie Davis; cousins Paige (Austin) Perry, Erik Cunningham II, Morgan Cunningham, Daniel Cantwell, Louis Davis III, Jennifer (Preston) Stewart, Stephanie (Matt) Sharpe, Brandon Kitchens and Christina (Carey) Johnson; grandparents Donna Cunningham, Jo An Kent and Ora Davis; numerous other cousins, extended family and friends.

A visitation with Davis’s family will be held Friday, July 8, 2022, at James Funeral Home beginning at 12:30 p.m. followed by services at 2 p.m. Interment will follow in the Jefferson County Memorial Gardens.

Pallbearers will be cousins and friends: Hayden Howard, Erik Cunningham II, Austin Perry, Daniel Cantwell, Louis Davis III, Riley Braddock, Trevor Reese and Cole Pittman.

Due to this sudden tragedy, the family is requesting donations in lieu of flowers. For more information contact James Funeral Home in Wrens.