ELLIS PAUL DAVIS, JR., 83, of Chapin, South Carolina and formerly of Thomasville, Georgia and Washington D.C., passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 at Agape House Hospice in Lexington, S.C. Paul was born on May 2nd, 1937, in Thomasville, Georgia at John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital to the late Ellis Paul Davis Sr. and Carrie Shearer Davis. Paul spent his early years at Pebble Hill Plantation where his father was employed as the plantation’s bookkeeper and his mother worked as an RN at Archbold. Later the Davis family would make their home on East Clay Street, and Paul’s father would found the CPA firm that is now Fletcher and Associates, P.C. They were charter members of Dawson Street Methodist Church. In 1954 Paul joined Neel’s Department Store as a salesman until 1955 when he graduated from Thomasville High School. Hitchhiking to Alaska after graduation, Paul worked there as a laborer on the Alaska Railroad and the U.S. Smelting, Mining and Refining Corporation. Paul would go on to study engineering at M.I.T. in Cambridge, Massachusetts and English at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, ultimately graduating from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia with a degree in English Literature. From 1959~1963 Paul honorably served his country in the United States Army where, after training at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey in Monterey, California, he served as a Voice Interceptor, translating and transcribing voice communications from Russian to English for the Army Security Agency. Starting in 1965 and spanning 10 presidential administrations until his retirement in 2016, Paul worked in Washington D.C. as an Information Specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services, writing and providing information about health programs to members of Congress, other federal agencies, and the general public. In declining health, Paul retired to Chapin, South Carolina in 2016 to spend time with his sister and their extended family. Throughout his entire life Paul had an unquenchable desire to learn. He was an avid reader and possessed a sense of adventure that took him all over the world on hiking, kayaking and cultural explorations. We will truly miss Paul’s life stories and his unique and dignified propriety of behavior, speech and dress. Paul is survived by his loving sister, Linda Davis Ross Goodwin and her husband, Jimmy Goodwin, of Chapin, SC, niece Jilynn Ross Parmly (David) of Knoxville, TN, nephew Christopher Ross (Kimberly) of West Palm Beach, FL, niece Alyssa Ross-Hood (Greg) and nephew Buck Ross (Sheri) both of Chapin, SC, stepbrother Judson Malone (Christina) of Georgetown, DE, 9 great nieces and nephews, 5 great-great nieces and nephews, and his beloved cat, Paula. He was predeceased by his parents Ellis and Carrie Davis, stepmother Lorene Parramore Malone Davis, step-sisters Anne Malone Moon and Barbara Malone, and brother-in-law James “Jimmy” Ross. Graveside services for Mr. Davis will be at 4pm, this Saturday, May 30th, at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Thomasville. Owing to limitations due to COVID~19, military honors will not be rendered at this time, and the family will briefly greet friends immediately following the service. Mr. Davis was a dedicated supporter of many charities, including: The Salvation Army, Doctors Without Borders, The Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, The Smithsonian, The National Zoo, Wounded Warrior Project, and The Wildlife Federation. Donations in Mr. Davis’s name may be made to any of the aforementioned charities or the charity or church of your choice. Sympathy acknowledgements may be sent to Linda Ross Goodwin, 343 Dutchman Shores Circle, Chapin, South Carolina 29036. Both Caughman~Harman (SC) & Whiddon~Shiver Funeral Homes have assisted the family.