With over a century of memories, Mr. Davis Gary recently celebrated his 103rd birthday, surrounded by his family and friends.
The Yazoo County native was a leader in the local banking industry and a community servant who was dedicated to his hometown. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Gary, he was a graduate of Bentonia High School and East Central Junior College.
In 2023, Mr. Gary was interviewed by Lynn Oldshue for her book Our Southern Souls. During that interview, he reflected on his youth in Yazoo County during the Great Depression. His father, Eugene Gary, was a farmer and carpenter.
“There weren’t any jobs or money,” Gary said, in Oldshue’s interview. “I went through seventh grade with only one pair of pants. They were black and white and cost $1.25. My mother ordered those pants from the National Bellas Hess catalog. I took them off when I got home from school, changing into the old pants my mother patched up.”
With no electricity or running water, Mr. Gary would complete his schoolwork on the floor with oil lamps.
“We milked the cows, and mother churned the milk into butter,” Gary continued in Our Southern Souls. “She would pick up a chicken, wring its neck, and cook it. Having fried chicken was a good day. Dad raised our food. He didn’t have a tractor, just horses pulling a plow. I started plowing when I was ten. Dad was more worried about the horse than me.”
After attending East Central Junior College, Mr. Gary had to resort to taking a job with the Civilian Conservation Corps to make money. He served as a tour guide at the Vicksburg National Military Park, earning $30 a month. He only kept about $9 of his paycheck, sending the rest to his mother.
“She saved every penny, and I used that money to return to school,” Gary said in Oldshue’s interview.
In an article published in The Yazoo Herald in September of 1941, the community welcomed Mr. Gary at Delta National Bank. While serving his role at the local bank, he also served in the United States Air Force in World War II. After serving for 38 months in the forces, he returned to work at the bank on March 1, 1946.
While at Delta National Bank, Mr. Gary served in several capacities. After serving as a runner and a teller, he was elected as Assistant Cashier in 1963. He was in charge of the proof and transit and bookkeeping departments, and he supervised the bank’s clerical operations in connection with the government cotton loan program.
In 1981, Mr. Gary celebrated four decades at the bank, which was later named Deposit Guaranty National Bank-Yazoo City. Upon completing 40 years, he served as the bank’s senior vice president in Operations and Personnel. During an award ceremony, he was given a diamond studded service pin by bank president Miller Holmes.
In a 1981 Herald article, Holmes said that “much of the success and growth of this bank has been as a result of the effort and exceptional faithful service that Mr. Gary has given to the bank throughout these past forty years. Among state bankers, he is recognized as a top bank operations officer.”
Mr. Gary retired from the bank after 47 years in 1988.
Family is also very important to Mr. Gary. He met his wife Dollye at a prayer meeting. He admitted he already had a girlfriend, but that relationship ended when he met Dollye.
“Dollye graduated from high school; the next week had an unusual wedding,” Gary said, in Our Southern Souls. “There was no telephone, so we wrote letters making our plans. She boarded a bus on June 8, 1943, and arrived in Baton Rouge at 6 p.m. We got married in the preacher’s office at 9 p.m. There was no family, just a couple of friends as witnesses.”
Mr. Gary is a member of First Methodist Church, where he has served on the Board of Stewards and as church Treasurer.
Within his civic duties, Mr. Gary has served on the Board of Directors of the Yazoo County Chamber of Commerce and is a past president of the Yazoo Civitan Club. He also served as secretary and president of the Exchange Club.
“Dolly and I were married for 77 years,” Gary told Oldshue. “We were a real part of raising our grandchildren, and I am so proud of them. We live close to the school, and they spent a lot of time with us. I scheduled my life around picking up my youngest grandson from school at 3 p.m. Dollye passed away in October 2020. She was 97 and I was 99.”
The couple had one son, Butch Gary. And now Mr. Gary welcomes the title of great grandfather with two great grandchildren and one on the way. During his recent birthday celebration, it was announced that his great grandchild on the way will be named Wells Davis Gary, to carry on the Gary family name.
“From oil lamps to A.I.— the world has changed so much in my lifetime,” Gary said, in Our Southern Souls. “I’ve had a regular life in Yazoo City, but it’s been a good one. I hope my family will be okay when I am gone.”
