Winston B. Davis

Winston Bland Davis, age 72, of Greenville, SC, died on Sunday, July 24, 2022 at his home. 

Born on July 11, 1950 in Moore County, NC, he was the son of the late Gordon and Annie Mae Davis. 

Before the age of 10 he began listening to Herbert W. Armstrong on the radio.  From that early age he believed Mr. Armstrong’s messages and obeying God became very important to him and it became his way of life.  He and his family began attending the Worldwide Church of God when he was 12 years old.  As a teenager he had to make many unpopular choices in order to obey God.  He loved playing basketball and football but gave it up to keep the Sabbath day holy.  He loved his country and wanted to fight when the Vietnam War started, but became a conscientious objector due to his belief in God’s commandments.  He was baptized on July 12, 1968, when he was only 18 years of age. 

After the death of Mr. Armstrong, changes in the Worldwide Church of God doctrine became very evident.  He fought against these changes refusing to give up his long held beliefs and faith.  In search of the truth, he again heard God’s message through Mr. Gerald Flurry and the Philadelphia Church of God.  In March of 1994 he became an ordained minister and continued to faithfully serve God’s people until his death.

Winston and his father, Gordon, were self-employed in the logging industry in South Carolina for 25 years.  Logging was a grueling job of long days, working in heat, cold and rain; sometimes working through the night on machinery in order to start again the next morning.  He never asked his men to do more than he did.  This was hard work but this is what he did to support his growing family.  During this time he faithfully served his church and brethren, often traveling many miles to do so.  

In 2006 he was asked to move to Edmond, OK in order to serve as head of the Security Department for the Philadelphia Church of God headquarters.  There he also served as minister for several outlying congregations across Oklahoma and Kansas.  In addition, he taught bible classes at Imperial Academy for years.  In January 2013 he was asked to move back to Greenville, SC where he served as minister to the Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee congregations until his death.

First and foremost, Winston loved God and always put God first.  He loved God’s people and strived to be a helper of their joy.  He loved the life that God had given him.  Winston loved life to the fullest and brought joy and laughter to everyone he met.  He was a man easy to love and he always had a smile on his face.

Winston dearly loved his family.  He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother and uncle.   He will be missed by his family, friends and brethren.  Left to cherish his memory is his wife Brenda, son Brian, daughter Sandra, grandchildren Brooke, Brandi, Michael, Dillon, Hannah and Jake, great grandchildren Daniel, Cole, Gordon and Jane, and sisters Dale and Becky.

Another great love Winston had was music.  He loved dancing, singing, playing the guitar, bass guitar, fiddle and a little bit on the piano.  And, even though they are not musical instruments, anyone that knew him knew that his love for tractors rivaled his love for music. (He would have wanted you to know this in case you didn’t already).  🙂

If he could be remembered for just one thing it would be for his faith in God and healing.  Winston was healed many times even from the time he was a boy and many times he had to wait years, but he always waited faithfully and patiently, trusting in his heavenly Father.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, July 31, 2022 at Cannon-Byrd Funeral Home beginning at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Philadelphia Church of God, PO Box 3700, Edmond, OK 73083