By JACQI LEYVA-HILL
Special to the NEWS
Family, faith, history and community were central to the life of Lonnie Davis, a San Benito native whose memories of the El Jardin neighborhood helped preserve the stories of generations of Black families in the city.
Davis died Aug. 28 at age 83. Born July 15, 1943, he grew up in El Jardin, where the Davis family lived just houses away from the Callandret family.
Although the families were not related, their histories became intertwined over nearly a century, according to Sandra Tumberlinson of the San Benito Historical Society. The Callandret family arrived in San Benito in 1908, while the Davis family came in 1926.
Davis remained deeply connected to the neighborhood throughout his life. During one birthday celebration, he chose the Callandret Black History Museum as the location. After touring displays featuring photographs and family trees of his ancestors, he walked with the group to 345 Winchell, the home where he was born.
“Not much has changed,” Davis said while looking at the home of his grandparents, Dee and Mary Davis.
He recalled his grandmother caring for him as a child and asking him to teach her to write her name after he learned to write in school.
“That is something I will never forget,” Davis said, “and it happened right here in that house.”
Although Davis was too young to formally attend the Colored School built by the San Benito School District in 1921 on Callandret land near the railroad tracks, he accompanied his older cousins there. He remembered Mrs. Jackson, a teacher at the wooden school, as someone who taught students what they needed to succeed in life.
Davis later attended school in Harlingen and graduated in 1961, before Black and white students could attend high school together in San Benito.
Those childhood experiences became an important part of his commitment to historical preservation. Davis was a founding member of the Callandret Black History Museum and supported its efforts to document the Black history of San Benito. His knowledge of the people and families of El Jardin also provided information for Historical Society projects.
As he traveled through the neighborhood, Davis could identify the Black families who had lived in its homes, beginning with Joe and Fannie Callandret in 1908 and continuing through present-day Callandret descendants.
His family’s legacy also included entrepreneurship. His father, L.B. Davis, worked for 37 years at Walk Office Equipment Company before establishing Davis Office Machines in 1964. Lonnie and his brothers later joined the business. Lonnie later owned F&I Systems, a consumer finance and insurance brokerage company in Harlingen.
Davis served in the U.S. Army in Korea and was a member of Corinth Missionary Baptist Church. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Deloria Nanze-Davis, two daughters and three grandchildren.
Tumberlinson described Davis as someone devoted to ensuring the stories and contributions of earlier generations would not be forgotten.
“Lonnie Davis was a child of El Jardin neighborhood and a true friend of San Benito,” she said.
