Milton Davis May

On Monday, December 22, 2025, the world lost a wonderful husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend of many. Heaven gained a good and faithful servant of God: Milton Davis May.
Although his family will miss him, all who knew him rejoice knowing that he is in the presence of his Savior and home with his wife of 65 years, Joan, along with his daughter, Cathy.
Milton was born on November 4, 1931 to Charles and Alta May in Rose Bud, AR. He spent his childhood in Rose Bud, graduating from Rose Bud High School in 1949. Following High School, Milton planned to be a pharmacist, attending and graduating from University of Arkansas. Upon graduation, his first job was at Katz and Besthoff Pharmacy in New Orleans. While working as a pharmacist, God called him into the ministry. He continued to work as a pharmacist and attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Religious Education. In New Orleans, he met his wife to-be, Joan Verner. They met in February and were married May 31, 1957. They lived in Seminary campus housing, making several lifelong friends. Their first child, Jan, joined them the following June.
Following their time in New Orleans, Milton, Joan and Jan moved to Kentucky, where he began as a pastor at First Baptist Church of Arlington. During their time in Arlington, they built many more lifetime friendships. In Kentucky, they grew their family with the addition of Cathy and Mark. Milton had always thought that they would end up on the international mission field, but that wasn't God's plan for his life. Instead, he got his fourth degree, a Master of Business Administration at Murray State University, which lead to him teaching Business at Southwest Baptist University for 13 years.
While teaching at SBU in Bolivar, MO, he picked up his fifth college degree, a BS in Psychology and used all of his various degrees, almost never doing just one thing. For many years, he would teach business classes during the week, work as a relief pharmacist in Springfield, MO on Saturday and preach at various churches across Missouri on Sunday, serving as an interim pastor for many. Over the years, he preached at over 60 churches across the state. On many occasions, he would take one of his children with him to the pharmacy on Saturday or a church on Sunday, to spend time with them.
Life changed dramatically in 1981, when Cathy was diagnosed with bone cancer at 19. He gave up teaching when they moved to Houston, TX, so that they could be with Cathy as she received treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Hospital. While there, he went back into full-time work as a pharmacist. When Cathy was "cured" of cancer, Milton and Joan moved back to Missouri, where they remained. After Cathy gave birth to one of his seven grandchildren, Ethan, the impact of all the chemotherapy Cathy received to cure her cancer finally led to her death in 1993. The loss of a child had a profound impact on both Milton and Joan that they carried for the rest of their lives.
In his retirement years, his great passion became tracing his family genealogy and working on his book about where he grew up. He spent many hours tracking down connections between Davis family members and organizing Davis family reunions. Many of the things that he discovered, he wrote about and published in the White County News. Those stories, along with others, made it into his book. When we helped him compile and complete This Old House and other Memories of Rose Bud Arkansas, he proudly shared it with everyone he knew.
Milton loved to tell stories and had many experiences to pull from. He liked to talk about the trip that he and Joan took to Alaska and show people the picture he had framed and on his wall that he took of a mountain with a disposable camera. He was very proud of the missionary work that he did in both Moldova and Belarus, teaching at Moldova Bible Seminary over many years and setting up a pharmacy in Belarus, in memory of his daughter, Cathy. There are so many more stories that anyone who knew him probably heard more than once.
Through his teaching, preaching and mission work he impacted the lives of thousands or tens of thousands of people. His students at SBU, Moldova Bible Seminary and the countless people at churches across Missouri and Kentucky, as well as people that just crossed his path would account for the tremendous, positive impact he had on their lives. He continued to have an impact until near the very end. After his wife died in 2022, he started a weekly Bible study at Clarendale Assisted Living at the young age of 90, teaching until earlier this year.
Milton Davis May, is preceded in death by his parents and siblings - Charles and Alta May (parents) John Robert (Naomi) May, Nina (Walter) Wilson, Betty (Lynn) Brown, and Charles May, Jr who died in infancy. He is survived by two of his Children; Jan (Russ) Mason and Mark (Lori) May, seven grandchildren - Cara Mason, Katie (Aaron) Brogan, Matthew (Jaclyn) Mason, Kelsey (Justin) Blanton, Leasha (Owen) Barr, Mackenzie May, Ethan (Emily) Sumrall - son of Cathy and Jess (Jo) Sumrall. Five great-grandchildren - Addison Brogan, Mason Brogan, Maverick Blanton, Ryann Blanton, Parker Mason.