Thomas Mockett Davies, 96, Lincoln, died Sunday, December 18, 2011 . He was born February 7, 1915 in Utica, Nebraska to Reginald “Rex” and Kathryn (Mockett) Davies.
He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1935 with a BA degree. In 1937, he received a LLB degree from the University of Nebraska Law School and went into practice with his grandfather.
He married Faith Arnold in 1937 and had three children, Thomas M. (Adele) Davies, Jr., Joan (Jim) Killinger and Charles A. Davies.
The attack of Pearl Harbor occurred just one month after Joanie’s birth. He enlisted in the Navy the next day and was assigned to Naval Intelligence. He served on a destroyer as the Intelligence Officer for the North Atlantic Convoy Fleet for two years until he was transferred back to Washington in 1944 to Naval Intelligence Headquarters.
After the war, he enrolled in a special graduate course of study on U. S. Taxation at Harvard University. Returning to Lincoln, he again began to practice law with his grandfather.
He has three grandchildren, Patrick Killinger, Timothy Killinger and Jennifer Davies and five great grandchildren.
Throughout his life he was a consummate family man, a dedicated public servant, a devout and active member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. He held high positions both in community service organizations and in the Episcopal Church. He served as the Chancellor (legal officer) of the Episcopal Dioceses of Nebraska for over twenty years.
He was a founding partner of the law firm, Ricketts, Davies, Stewart & Calkins, which also had a branch office in Hickman, Nebraska. He practiced law in Nebraska of over seventy years (1937-2008). He was still going to his office on a daily basis until just a few years ago.
He was President of the Nebraska Bar Association, President of the Nebraska State Bar Foundation and President of the Lincoln Bar Association and was later honored with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2006, he received the first Citizen of the Year from the Hickman, Nebraska Community Foundation. He had opened a branch law office in Hickman in 1946, an office which is still functioning today.
Faith, his wife of 47 years, died in 1984. In 1997, he married Beatrice “Mike” Seacrest and they enjoyed fifteen wonderful years of happy marriage.
Some years ago, Tom Brokaw wrote a book entitled The Greatest Generation which gave special recognition to the generation of men who fought in World World II. Thomas M. Davies was certainly one of the most distinguished members of that generation.
Memorial Service: 10:00 a.m. Thursday (12-22-11) Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 6001 ‘A’ Street. Rev. Susanna DesMarais, Officiating.
Memorials to the church. No Visitation/Cremation.