A life long Carthage resident, Kevin was the son of the late Ted and Betty (Hesser) Davis of Carthage.
Kevin is survived by his wife Vicki of the home, brother Dr. Lance and wife Beverly, children Andrea, Derrick and Shannan, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Kevin was a 1971 graduate of the Carthage Senior High School and received an Associates degree in 1974 and a Bachelor of Art's degree in sociology in 1976 from Missouri Southern State University. He also attended numerous advanced study programs in law enforcement. During college he worked for the Carthage School District and Schreiber Cheese. After graduating from college, Kevin was a career law enforcement officer, proudly serving for over 30 years with the Carthage Police Department. He advanced through the ranks from patrolman to detective attaining the rank of Captain.
Kevin was a lifelong Episcopalian and a member of the Grace Episcopal Church.
Kevin touched the lives of many people and will be sadly missed by so many who knew and served with him.
Graveside funeral services will be held Wednesday November 14, 2007 at 10:00 AM at the Park Cemetery, Carthage, MO. Fr. Steve Wilson will officiate. The Carthage Police Department and the Joplin Police Department Color Guard will provide funeral honors. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Grace Episcopal Church in care of the Knell Mortuary.
November 11, 2007
Carthage police officers to honor comrade
Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sun Nov 11, 2007, 09:06 PM CST
By Wally Kennedy
[email protected]
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Arrangements for recognizing a Carthage policeman for a lifetime of dedication to the city were being completed Sunday by his friends in the Police Department.
Capt. Kevin V. Davis, 54, a Carthage native and a member of the department for more than 30 years, died Saturday at McCune-Brooks Hospital after a five-month battle with cancer.
Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Park Cemetery in Carthage. A police honor guard in planned.
Lt. Bill Barksdale, who was making arrangements Sunday night to honor his colleague, said a corridor procession from Knell Mortuary down Chestnut Street to the cemetery is planned.
"We want officers to line both sides of the street and to follow the family to the cemetery," Barksdale said. "We want this to be a real tribute to him."
Police Chief Dennis Veach, who is leaving his post later this week for a position in Sachse, Texas, a community north of Dallas, worked nine years with Davis.
"Kevin really cared about Carthage and the people who lived there. That was his whole life," Veach said. "He really cared about the local police presence and really cared about his town."
Veach said Davis was skilled as a hostage negotiator.
"I worked with him on a half-dozen of those things over the years," he said. "They were mostly attempted suicides. Wow, was he good at it. I specifically know people whose lives he saved. He talked them out of it.
"He had great compassion and patience with people in those kinds of situations."
Detective Laverne Williams said he joined the Carthage Police Department a few months after Davis joined in February 1977. Davis was promoted to the rank of detective in 1979. He was named captain in 1985.
Williams recalled the time a man hijacked a Burlington Northern train at the station in Carthage.
"I was there and he (Davis) was there," Williams said. "A subject had commandeered a train. He (Davis) was part of the negotiating team. We actually were able to get some tear gas lobbed into the cab of the train."
Williams said there have been several incidents in which Davis was a negotiator and "was very successful at getting someone to come out peacefully and prevent bloodshed."
Williams said the captain's job involves "a lot of work. You have to do a lot of coordinating and preparation. He had that down to a science with the Maple Leaf parade and Marian Days. He was the one-man show who got everything coordinated.
"He had the kind of personality everyone got along with well. He was an asset to the city."
A life long Carthage resident, Kevin was the son of the late Ted and Betty (Hesser) Davis of Carthage.
Kevin is survived by his wife Vicki of the home, brother Dr. Lance and wife Beverly, children Andrea, Derrick and Shannan, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Kevin was a 1971 graduate of the Carthage Senior High School and received an Associates degree in 1974 and a Bachelor of Art's degree in sociology in 1976 from Missouri Southern State University. He also attended numerous advanced study programs in law enforcement. During college he worked for the Carthage School District and Schreiber Cheese. After graduating from college, Kevin was a career law enforcement officer, proudly serving for over 30 years with the Carthage Police Department. He advanced through the ranks from patrolman to detective attaining the rank of Captain.
Kevin was a lifelong Episcopalian and a member of the Grace Episcopal Church.
Kevin touched the lives of many people and will be sadly missed by so many who knew and served with him.
Graveside funeral services will be held Wednesday November 14, 2007 at 10:00 AM at the Park Cemetery, Carthage, MO. Fr. Steve Wilson will officiate. The Carthage Police Department and the Joplin Police Department Color Guard will provide funeral honors. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Grace Episcopal Church in care of the Knell Mortuary.
November 11, 2007
Carthage police officers to honor comrade
Anonymous The Joplin Globe Sun Nov 11, 2007, 09:06 PM CST
By Wally Kennedy
[email protected]
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Arrangements for recognizing a Carthage policeman for a lifetime of dedication to the city were being completed Sunday by his friends in the Police Department.
Capt. Kevin V. Davis, 54, a Carthage native and a member of the department for more than 30 years, died Saturday at McCune-Brooks Hospital after a five-month battle with cancer.
Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Park Cemetery in Carthage. A police honor guard in planned.
Lt. Bill Barksdale, who was making arrangements Sunday night to honor his colleague, said a corridor procession from Knell Mortuary down Chestnut Street to the cemetery is planned.
"We want officers to line both sides of the street and to follow the family to the cemetery," Barksdale said. "We want this to be a real tribute to him."
Police Chief Dennis Veach, who is leaving his post later this week for a position in Sachse, Texas, a community north of Dallas, worked nine years with Davis.
"Kevin really cared about Carthage and the people who lived there. That was his whole life," Veach said. "He really cared about the local police presence and really cared about his town."
Veach said Davis was skilled as a hostage negotiator.
"I worked with him on a half-dozen of those things over the years," he said. "They were mostly attempted suicides. Wow, was he good at it. I specifically know people whose lives he saved. He talked them out of it.
"He had great compassion and patience with people in those kinds of situations."
Detective Laverne Williams said he joined the Carthage Police Department a few months after Davis joined in February 1977. Davis was promoted to the rank of detective in 1979. He was named captain in 1985.
Williams recalled the time a man hijacked a Burlington Northern train at the station in Carthage.
"I was there and he (Davis) was there," Williams said. "A subject had commandeered a train. He (Davis) was part of the negotiating team. We actually were able to get some tear gas lobbed into the cab of the train."
Williams said there have been several incidents in which Davis was a negotiator and "was very successful at getting someone to come out peacefully and prevent bloodshed."
Williams said the captain's job involves "a lot of work. You have to do a lot of coordinating and preparation. He had that down to a science with the Maple Leaf parade and Marian Days. He was the one-man show who got everything coordinated.
"He had the kind of personality everyone got along with well. He was an asset to the city."