Ruth Davis

by Lea Thomas
Photo by Charles A. Smith
May 10, 2006

Sitting on a park bench among automobiles, passersby and wasps buzzing about spring in full force, Ruth Davis fearlessly and passionately pours out her thoughts on life, past, present and future.

Davis is a statuesque woman with smooth skin and a smile as enchanting as her personality. It's hard to believe that this mother of five, grandmother of 14 and great-grandmother of nine is 61 years of age.

Adult life began early for Davis. Helping her mother at the family cleaners and being around older young women caused Davis to mature early. "I've been working since I was 10 years old," she says. She later married at age 13, and had her first child at age 14. "Yes, I was a child bride."

Shortly after her marriage, Davis packed her family's bags and moved from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to Jackson. "I moved here in 1967 looking for a better life," Davis says. And she found it, despite the untimely death of her husband a few years later.

Davis and her five little ones were alone for the first time. "It was frustrating raising five kids, being a single parent," she says. Davis found a job in food service making $1 an hour at Doctor's Hospital, now St. Dominic's Hospital. Davis says she understands the plight of single parents, but doesn't think it should be used as an excuse for slouchy child rearing.

Focusing on solutions instead of problems is what drove Davis. Realizing that she would never make the salary she deserved without a better education, she got her G.E.D. and later went to Hinds Community College. "Now I'm a supervisor," she says. Davis has been with the State Fire Academy for 15 years.

Davis is a true example of perseverance and strength, and she wants to set the same example. "Jackson is going through a necessary change. It'll be all right," she says confidently. "Kids are the extension of the adults. We see these adults doing all kinds of things. If we are going to ask the kids to be better, why don't we be better? We set the example for the kids," she says.

Visibly pained by the thought, Davis says, "I look at our political arena. They fight. They argue. They are swearing. They're doing all kinds of things, and yet they talking about the young folk. Somebody got to have some sense."

Davis believes that prevention is where the solution lives whenever kids are involved. She also believes that the success of Jackson lies with the people of Jackson. "We've got to buy in Jackson and support Jackson. We're supporting all these other cities. Without money from people who live in Jackson, they wouldn't succeed," she says. A little mother-wit never hurt anyone.

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