Longtime Eastside Tacoma pastor Al Davis dies at age 84

The Rev. Alfred C. Davis, Sr., a man dedicated to the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of his eastside Tacoma community for half a century, died Saturday. He was 84.

Davis died at home from Parkinson’s Disease complications, according to his family.

Davis was more than the long time pastor of the church he founded, Eastside Community Church, (now Eastside Assembly of Believers). He had, according to his family and those who knew him, an ability to see what people needed to thrive and the skills to empower them.

From Mississippi to Tacoma

Alfred Davis was born March 11, 1938 in the segregated community of Vaiden, Mississippi — the third of Susie and Sherman Davis’ seven sons.

At 16, Davis said, he was called to serve in Christianity. He was soon leading revivals, according to his daughter, Angel Davis.

He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at 18, hoping to become a chaplain. By 1957 he found himself at McChord Air Force Base (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord) working in communications.

After four years in the Air Force Davis left the military but stayed in Tacoma.

“I don’t even know how he got connected to the east side of Tacoma, but it seemed it was very under served,” Angel Davis said Thursday.

Davis established the Eastside Community Church of God in Christ in 1964 with only 12 members and $25, Angel Davis said.

“He was one of the few Black pastors in the 1970s and 80s, to build a church from the ground up,” she said.

The list of programs he started span the decades and include a rehab facility for teens, a daycare center, a Black Christian school, a food program, a scholarship fund and others.

Although he believed in empowering Black people, his ministry reached out to all colors and denominations, his family said.

“He was one of the few pastors that didn’t just connect to the Black church, but to the ecumenical community,” Angel Davis said. “He would switch pulpits with Presbyterian and Lutheran pastors.”

Davis referred to his church as a “filling station,” according to his widow Mary Davis. It was a sort of spiritual fueling center that has improved the lives of thousands, she said.

“We’ve never had a large congregation, but the impact he had on their lives when they left the church ... we kept relationships with all of them,” Mary Davis said Thursday.

Radical to reverend

Robert Penton met Davis when Penton came to Tacoma from Los Angeles in 1967, a member of the Black Panthers, a 1960s-era Black nationalist organization.

Today, he’s the Rev. Robert Penton. He credits the transformation from radical to reverend directly to Davis.

On that day in 1967, Penton was agitating for the Black Panthers movement at a Salishan community center. Davis was at the center for a different reason.

“Pastor Davis, who I didn’t know, came up and gave me a sum of money,” Penton recalled Wednesday. “I mean, out of the blue, he just put it in my hand.”

Intrigued by the gesture, Penton eventually met with Davis.

“He told me about his vision,” Penton said. “And I said, if that’s what your church is about, that’s what I want to do and that’s where I want to serve.”

Davis’ vision was a holistic ministry.

“Serving them with food, shelter, clothing, that kind of thing,” Penton said. “When I was in LA with the Black Panthers we had feeding programs and after school care and that kind of thing, and Rev. Davis was talking just that, only through the extension of the church.”

Davis had given Penton the cash that day because he sensed Penton needed it.

“And that’s what he did,” Penton said. “I later understood the principles behind his ministry — just doing the way he felt Jesus would do, not only just preach to people, but to feed people.”

Helping young people

In 1974, Davis purchased a 100-plus-acre parcel in Yelm where he established a program to intervene and redirect at-risk youth. He wanted young people, particularly young Black men, to have options beyond gangs and violence, his family said.

At the ranch, youth learned farming, carpentry, animal husbandry and gained an exposure to nature they had never experienced. The facility continues to serve as a home for foster children.

In 1978, Davis met his second wife, Mary, under tragic circumstances while he was serving as a chaplain for the Tacoma Police Department. Mary’s son, Bernard, had been killed in a auto wreck.

They later met again at a revival and knew they were destined for each other. Their six children never referred to themselves as half-siblings. Davis would tell them, “You don’t need any friends, you have each other.”

Davis’ son, the Rev. Alex Davis, took over his father’s church after the senior Davis retired in 2014.

Legacy

Along with Merle Palmer, Davis founded Palmer Scholars in 1983, a program that aids economically disadvantaged students of colors to achieve their highest academic and career dreams.

“While his name is not represented on our logo, Rev. Davis’ impact on Palmer Scholars and the greater Tacoma and Pierce County community is one that will span generations,” executive director Johnathan Jackson said in a statement Wednesday.

Even in his final days, Davis put others before himself, his family said.

“He was strong because he wanted to be strong for us,” Mary Davis said. “The kids said, ‘Dad, you got to go home,’ because he wanted to just have that assurance that we were okay and that it was okay for him to go home and be with the Lord.”

In addition to Mary, Angel and Alex, Davis is survived by his children Alfred Davis, Jr., Darlene Spenser, Jerome Davis, Aldrick Davis, Felicia Collins and their families.

A public viewing will be held 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11 at Eastside Assembly of Believers, 4420 Portland Ave. Tacoma. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 12 at Life Center, 1717 S. Union Ave. Tacoma.