Jerry Davis

Jerry Kendell Davis died of pancreatic cancer while in home hospice care in Pembroke, New Hampshire.
He was born at home near Alpine in Overton County, Tennessee and grew up in Overton and Morgan Counties in Tennessee. His parents were Vonda Jewel (Maynard) Davis and Havil Beechel Davis. Both of his parents were high school teachers who retired from teaching in the Sunbright school system. They also had farms in both Overton and Morgan Counties where Jerry helped with the farm work. Jerry graduated from Sunbright High School in Sunbright, Tennessee and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville with a degree in Animal Husbandry (1970). He played drums and was in the University of Tennessee Marching Band. He was a lifelong fan of University of Tennessee football, and Men's and Lady Vols basketball. He received his degree in Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University (1974) and his PhD (1981) in Experimental Pathology and completed a Residency Program in Laboratory Animal Medicine from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He was the recipient of many academic awards, including a United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Individual Research Fellowship and a Parker B. Francis Pulmonary Research Fellowship. He was a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (national veterinary specialty certification) and multiple professional and scientific organizations, including the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science, the Association of Primate Veterinarians, the American Society for Microbiology, and the International Organization for Mycoplasmology. His areas of expertise included Laboratory Animal Medicine, Comparative Medicine, Experimental Pathology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases. He was a Professor of Comparative Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. At the University of Florida, he was a Professor and Director of the Division of Comparative Medicine at the UF Medical Center and Professor of Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Veterinary Medical Officer for the Gainesville Veterans Administration Medical Center. At Purdue University, he was Professor and Director of the Veterinary School Laboratory Animal Program and Professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology. He also developed and directed the Indiana Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency/Master's Degree Program in a partner-ship with Purdue University, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Eli Lilly Company, Inc. He finished his professional career as a Veterinary Medical Officer and Comparative Medicine Subject Matter Expert in the Office of Counter Terrorism and Emergency Coordination at the United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. He helped write multiple documents concerning the use of the Animal Rule for developing drugs to ameliorate or prevent serious or life-threatening conditions caused by exposure to lethal or permanently disabling toxic substances, such as radiation and anthrax, when human efficacy studies are not ethical and field trials are not feasible. The animal models used to develop these treatments must be highly analogous to the conditions seen in humans. Jerry loved teaching graduate and professional students. He was especially proud of his nine Masters and Doctor of Philosophy degree students and his membership on the graduate committees for an additional 21 graduate students. He collaborated with many scientists, and was a member of national and international review boards for research grants as well as academic, professional education, and scientific review commit-tees for institutions and scientific journals. He was an author on over 100 scientific research reports and book chapters in professional and scientific texts, and presented numerous research reports and lectures at scientific and professional meetings.
He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Maureen Kathryn Davis; sons, Trevor Gage Davis (Melissa and grandchildren, Eli Gage Davis and Jackson Lee Davis of Clinton, TN) and Jared Littleton Davis (Shelli and grandchildren Keagan Noah Gage Davis and Jayleigh Kaye Davis of Knoxville, TN); daughter, Kendra Rosamond (Davis) Becker (Jacob and grandchild Finnian August Becker of Reading, MA); and sister, Belinda Sue (Davis) Ledbetter of East Leroy, Michigan.
He was preceded in death by is sister, Wanda Jeanette Davis of Ten Mile, Tennessee.
Jerry did not want a funeral. If you wish to remember him with a charitable gift, two of Jerry's favorite charities were the National Parks Conservation Association and the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine Foundation or choose your own favorite charity.
Cremation Society of New Hampshire are in charge of arrangements.