Winston Halen Davis

Winston Halen “Sid” Davis, age 88 of Maryville, passed away on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at Asbury Place. Winston, or as his friends called him, Sid, was born on February 13, 1935, to Dennie Halen Davis and Wilma Alena Seals Davis in Tazewell, Tennessee. The Aluminum Company of America employed Sid's father, Halen, in 1937, and the family moved to Maryville, Tennessee. Sid graduated from Maryville High School in 1953. He attended Jones Junior College in Ellisville Mississippi, on a football scholarship, but after receiving a shoulder injury, he returned to Maryville. He was employed at ALCOA as an apprentice electrician before returning to college at Middle Tennessee State College in 1956. During his attendance at M.T.S.C., Winston was active in Student Government, serving during his senior year as the Attorney General on the staff of the president of the Associated Student Government. He received the Outstanding Senior Award from the facility of the Industrial Education Department and was listed in the 1959 Edition of "Who's Who in American Colleges". Winston received his Bachelor of Science degree from M.T.S.C. in 1959 and was employed as an Instructor of Machine Shop at Hampton High School, Hampton, Virginia. Sid returned to Maryville in 1960 and was employed by the Knoxville City Schools as the Metal Shop Instructor at Rule High School. He entered the Graduate Program at the University of Tennessee in 1960 and received his Master of Science Degree in Industrial Education with a minor in Secondary School Administration in 1963. He continued his graduate work and eventually completed 45 quarter hours beyond his master’s degree.  Sid met his wife, Jeanette Lanning Payne, when both were students at U.T.  They were married in 1962. After fifty years of marriage, Jeanette who was a 30-year employee of the Alcoa City Schools passed away on October 14, 2012. Sid and Jeanette had no children other than the many students they taught during their years in education.

Winston's thirty-four years career in education led him to complete seventeen years as an instructor at Rule High School before his appointment in 1976 as the Assistant Principal at Fulton High School. In 1982 he was appointed Principal of Christenberry Middle School. In 1983 he was appointed Principal of Fulton High School where he served for the next ten years until his retirement in 1993. After retirement, Sid devoted one day a week for the next fourteen years volunteering at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Sid's service as an interpretive VIP was recognized and honored in 2008 by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, who presented Sid with the Secretarial Volunteer Service Award at the Great Smoky Mountains Sustainable Tourism Summit in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Heartfelt thanks to the staff at Asbury Place Assisted Living Facility for their wonderful care of Sid over the past several years. Family and friends will assemble at 3:00 p.m. for Graveside Service and Interment Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at Grandview Cemetery with Rev. George Macht officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Maryville First Baptist Church, 202 W Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Maryville, TN 37801. Smith Funeral & Cremation Service, Maryville, 865-983-1000, www.SmithFuneralandCremation.com