May Bell Davis, longtime Marshall County resident and recipient of a bronze “Rosie The Riveter” Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, passed away peacefully in her Kingston, Oklahoma home on May 9, 2026, at the age of 101, born November 2, 1924.
May Bell was proud to be a wife and mother in Marshall and Jefferson Counties until the death of her beloved husband, Orville. Mrs. Davis was a dedicated, long-term member of the Kingston Church of Christ and a member of the Eastern Star. Ms. May loved to work and retired from Madill, Oklahoma Walmart at the young age of 80.
May Bell (Parsons) Davis had served her Country during World War II by working in the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant and the Shumaker Naval Ammunition Depot. In August 2024, the Congressional Medal of Honor Replica was presented to May Bell in Glenwood Arkansas.
The US Congress authorized the Congressional Gold Medal to honor the 6,000,000 women who went to work in the munitions and weapons factories replacing men who had gone to war during World War II. The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States. It was bestowed by vote of the US Congress in 2020. The Congressional medal seeks to honor those, individually or as a group, “who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient’s field long after the achievement.”
Mrs. Davis is survived by her son, Orville William Davis, of Kingston, Okla., and daughters Glenda Gail Parker, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Linda Nell Parker, Palacious, Texas; four grandchildren: Doug Crook, Cummings, Ga., Sonnya Acuff, Anna Cordes, Wash., Cassie Workman, Moore, Okla. and Tyler Davis, Kingston, Okla.; five great-grandchildren: Kelly Crook-Daniels, Baltimore, Md., Sarah Acuff and Adam Acuff, both of Anna Cordes, Wash., Brandon Workman, Moore, Okla., Aiden Langley, Oklahoma City, Okla.; and by one great-great-granddaughter, Eliose Crook-Daniels, Baltimore, Md.
Mrs. Davis was preceded in death by her husband of 14 years, Orville E. Davis; her daughter, Lisa Diane Davis, and nine of her 10 siblings, with her brother Gerald Parsons, Fort Smith, Ark., still surviving.
A family night celebration of life will be held at The Gordon Center, located at 305 N. Second Ave, in Durant, Oklahoma on Thursday, May 14, 2026 from 6-7 p.m. The friends and family are invited.
A graveside service for Miss May will be at the Parsons family’s Saline Cemetery in Howard County, Arkansas on Friday, May 15, 2026 at 1 p.m. Tyler Davis, Doug Crook, Gail Parker, Linda Parker, Gary Larey, and Larry Ward will serve as pallbearers.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Gordon Funeral Home, 221 N. Third Ave., in Durant, Oklahoma, (580) 916-9090 and Wilkerson Funeral Home, 403 W. Stillwell Ave., in De Queen, Arkansas, (870) 642-2218.