PORT GIBSON — “Opportunity” is a word that has always come easily to the mind of Frank Davis.

For 32 years, Davis has been sheriff of Claiborne County, but following his defeat in the Aug. 23 Democratic primary runoff, he’s packing the photographs and mementos of a career in preparation for leaving office Jan. 3.

He wasn’t quite ready to go, he said, but he’s not complaining.

“I’m going to stay home and have an opportunity to appreciate life,” he said with a smile.

It was the same when he lost his first job 45 years ago, fired by a Port Gibson grocer during the NAACP-led boycott of white businesses.

“I saw it as an opportunity not to be a butcher for the rest of my life,” he said, and he smiled again.

Davis, 64, will relinquish his post to Marvin Lucas, a former Claiborne County jailer who worked for him for more than 20 years before moving over to Parks and Recreation.

“I’m proud to follow him,” said Lucas, 53. “He gave me my start, hiring me in October of 1981. I learned a lot of things from him just by being able to work for him during those years, and I’m grateful to him.”

Chief Deputy Freddie Yarbrough has worked for Davis during all his years in office.

“It’s been a privilege to work for him and to learn,” Yarbrough said. “His leadership is unquestionable. He likes to lead by example. He doesn’t just do the job — he has a lot of heart, and he cares about this county.”

‘I think a lot of things went wrong in the election, things were done that were not correct. But as a whole, the community spoke. I could have challenged the election but I chose not to.’

Frank Davis

Claiborne County sheriff

First elected in 1979, Davis became the first black sheriff in Claiborne County since Reconstruction, defeating longtime former Sheriff Dan McCay. Davis was one of three black sheriffs in the state elected that year.

Davis is a native of Claiborne County, the third of the 13 children of Green Lee Davis and Mary Lee Triplett. He graduated from Addison High School, served in the U.S. Army with a unit in Korea during the Vietnam War years and attended Alcorn State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education. After college, he got a job teaching and coaching at Greenville High School, where he was the offensive line coach for the football team and head girls track coach.

“I thought, this is my dream, this is what I’ll do,” he said.

Davis was married at the time, and he returned to Port Gibson when his wife, also a teacher, was unable to get a job in Greenville. McCay offered him a spot as a deputy.

Over the next few years Davis took graduate classes in criminal justice at the University of Southern Mississippi, he said, and also took over as civil defense director for the county.

In 1979, a group of pastors and business owners, both black and white, went to Davis and said, “We’re going to change sheriffs,” and urged him to run. He had been close to McCay and resisted for a time, but finally agreed to run. It was a close race and Davis’ friendship with McCay was irrevocably fractured, he said. McCay died before they could reconcile, but Davis said he has been able to stay in touch with McCay’s widow and family members. “I respected him to the highest and still do,” he said.

Re-elected seven times, Davis never received less than 85 percent of the vote, he said, until August, when he netted just 39 percent.

Not being sure why the county voted for change is “the most difficult thing” about the election, but he also admits to private questions about some reported irregularities and errors in how it was managed.

“I think a lot of things went wrong in the election; things were done that were not correct,” he said. “But as a whole, the community spoke. I could have challenged the election but I chose not to.”

Davis’ desk and office walls are filled with awards and plaques he’s earned, including the Distinguished Service Award for the Class of 1965 for Claiborne County Schools.

In 2000 he was elected president of the 72-member Mississippi Sheriff’s Association.

“That is one of my most prized things, being elected by my peers,” he said. “Even though I fought with them tooth and nail over the years, I am as proud of that as I am of anything in the world, and I want them to know that.”

On Feb. 16, 2005, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., filed a proclamation in the House of Representatives, placing Davis’ name in the Congressional Record for his achievements.

He counts the startup of Claiborne County’s TRIAD program close to a dozen years ago as one of his most important contributions. The partnership of sheriff’s office, Port Gibson police and senior citizens feeds about 100 elderly a month and also helps look out for their safety and well-being, he said.

He also served as campus police chief at Alcorn State for two years until June 2010.

“Looking back on my career, I don’t think there’s anything I would change,” he said. “This was my life. I lived, I woke up every morning to come into this office and serve this community.”

The final thing he hopes to accomplish is to complete Claiborne County’s entrance into the Mississippi Crime Stoppers program.

“I’ve been working on it for the last year and a half or two, and we’re in the final stages now. I want to leave here with that up and running and operational,” he said.

Once January comes, Davis, who is divorced, will spend time with his family — his daughter in Jackson, his son in Port Gibson, sister and niece next door and other relatives. He’s the ranking elder and chairs the deacon board at King David Christian Church, where he has been a lifelong member. He watches football, following ASU and the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, and likes to go to drag races.

Davis is still debating whether he will be at the office Jan. 3 to hand over the keys and pass the baton to Lucas, but wishes him the best.

“Sometimes change is good, sometimes it’s bad,” Davis said. “We’ll have to live a little while to see which is which. I pray that the young man who chose to do this… did it for all the right reasons. I pray that he will be successful, but I also pray that he will have the love of this community in his heart as I have had over these years. I love Claiborne County.”