Jimmy Davis, voice of MGCCC football, dies

VANCLEAVE -- Jimmy Davis was the voice of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College football for more than two decades.

He called their games for years on radio.

Sports was his life, his wife, Jill, said -- and hunting.

Davis died Sunday at the age of 61.

Jill Davis had just retired as a principal in the Jackson County School District, and Jimmy Davis was ready for them to start spending time together, she said, when he suddenly fell ill in September.

"Until then, he was on his tractor and doing things, getting ready for hunting season," she said.

"On Sept. 11, he woke me up and said, 'You have to take me to the hospital, I can't breathe.' I did and we never came home."

He moved from the local hospital to Select Specialty Hospital, an acute-care facility in Gulfport, where he died.

James Thomas Davis was the son of Curtis Davis Sr., the first vice president of MGCCC's Jackson County campus.

Jimmy Davis grew up on the campus in Gautier with his brothers and sister.

He was a radio personality on the Coast for more than 20 years, co-owner of Dynamic Outdoors television and radio, and the owner of Jimmy Davis Construction.

He was a morning personality for Coast 102 radio in Biloxi, and was twice named Sports Broadcaster of the Year by the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters. He called high school and arena football for radio, announced for boxing and for several years worked the Senior Bowl in Mobile for CBS radio, his wife said.

MGCCC President Mary Graham pointed out Jimmy Davis' long connection with the institution.

"He was a great friend to the college and will be missed," she said. "He was always a good supporter."

Jill Davis said when she first met her husband, "he was lock, stock and barrel into sports broadcasting.

"This (2015) was the first year (of their 26-year marriage) that he didn't do Gulf Coast football," she said. "He wasn't well enough."

Jimmy Davis met his wife in November and asked her to marry him a month later. She was teaching kindergarten at the time and had his son in her class.

"He brought me my engagement ring on the playground, during recess duty," she said. "We got married during springs break in March."

Jill Davis said she's not sure what she will do with herself now.

"It has been 110 days of going to the hospital," she said. "The services are Wednesday (today). After that, I will finally feel like I can take a deep breath. I know I'll sleep all day Thursday."

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Jed Davis, who was killed in a hunting accident at 16.

Jimmy Davis came from a family and raised a family that hunts together, Jill Davis said. He loved cold-weather hunting and "couldn't wait for it to start turning cold," she said. He was a professional and especially liked deer hunting.

He enjoyed taking others hunting and took a group from his church, First Baptist Church of Vancleave, to Texas on a hunting trip once.

His friend Al Jones, now fish and game reporter for WLOX, worked with Jimmy Davis for 20 years with Dynamic Outdoors and sports coverage on the Coast.

Jones described Davis as a man of his word, "with honesty and integrity. He loved his family and friends."

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 9:57 PM with the headline "Jimmy Davis, voice of MGCCC football, dies ."