During Black History Month; Councilwoman Lillie Q. Odom reached out into the community to recognize a long standing unsung hero/resident in the City of Miami Gardens, who has brought much interest and history to his neighborhood, other cities and communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida as well as other states.
She states that; “ Black History should be an on-going thing; because it is the unsung heroes; the shop owners; the entrepreneurs the quiet ordinary people with extraordinary desires toward excellence, achievement and forward-looking enthusiasm- who, while pursuing their dreams, also build a lasting and thriving community. Many of their stories are never told. They should be. Therefore, she chose the beginning of one of the council meetings to tell the story about: Charlie J. “Gabby” Davis, Sr.
Born in Fort Valley, Georgia where he was featured in their city book entitled “A Story Untold”.
He served in the United States Marine Corps, during the Korean War, heroically, as demonstrated by his numerous decorations, among which are two Purple Hearts, the Silver Star for gallantry in action, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Medal, and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. Mr. Davis began working in the City of Coral Gables in 1949 earning .84 cents an hour. In the ensuing years he received numerous promotions as he rose to become the First African-American to hold a Director’s position in Public Service. He devoted more than four decades before his retirement in 1995 with 45 years of service.
Mr. Davis was also the first African American to serve on the board of Directors of the Coral Gables Municipal Credit Union. He is featured on the Miami Dade County Credit Union 2014 Calendar; where the credit union celebrated 75 years of service to the South Florida Communities.
Mr. Davis has been married to wife Dorothy for 62 years. He is one of the first residents to move into the Bunche Park Neighborhood in Miami Gardens, where he has been in the same house for 60 years.
He has sponsored and continues to sponsor numerous of students to attend Bethune Cookman University. He boosts being a manager of a Gospel Singing group called the C Lord Cs., He is a Lead singer in the church’s Male Chorus and a Deacon at Greater New Bethel MB Church. He knows how to gather a crowd in a short period of time, and captures everyone attention with his war stories and everyday life stories. Yes we can go on and on about Mr. Davis. .fondly called:
“GABBY” An UnSung Hero, whose story should be told.
