Justine Gray Magers was born on June 24, 1920 in Graysville. She was a resident of Baldwyn, Mississippi at the time of her death, and was a former Dora resident. She passed away October 11, 2007 at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, at New Horizon Memorial Funeral Home with burial at Free Will Cemetery in West Jefferson.
She was born to Leonerdas Glynn and Cora Stallins Gray. She was the youngest child of a family of ten and grew up in the coal mining area of Jefferson County. She attended elementary school in Jefferson County and graduated from Dora High School in 1938. She was actively involved in gospel music from an early age. She sang in church and at “all day singings” with a family group, “The Sunshine Girls.” She also helped her sister Nola lead singing schools.
She married Thomas B. Davis of Dora, on August 2, 1940. They were active in Calvary Baptist Church, Dora First Baptist Church, and Sumiton Baptist Church while Tom served as a Deacon and choir director. She served as a choir member, Sunday School teacher, WMU president, GA sponsor, and other leadership roles. During the 1950-60s she worked as a substitute teacher for the Walker County Schools and served as PTA president and member of Dora High School Band Booster Club. When Tom died suddenly in 1971, she served as interim choir director of Sumiton Baptist Church. She lived her last years in Baldwyn.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas B. Davis; an infant son; and her parents. She is survived by her daughter, Diane Davis Browning and her husband, Larry of Waco, Texas; grandson, William J. Browning of Austin, Texas; and the T.N. Davis family of Dora.