A quiet man of amen : Photos of Hank Davis

By Dow Davis

April 26, 2026 – It was a beautiful morning to be up and ready to attend church with my parents. I had just finished getting ready as I made my way to our kitchen.

I sat down at one end of the table. I began to enjoy my breakfast of biscuits and gravy with a slice of bacon and an oatmeal pie.

My dad, Hank Davis, was already finished with his breakfast. He was sitting a couple seats apart from me at the side of the table. Very quietly and intently, he was reading his Bible.

As I sit there, I look at myself sitting where I am and glance at him a few times when I realize what a serene and symbolic moment this is for us. This would be a wonderful photo to take of us.

The reason why I say this would be a serene and symbolic image of myself and my father for me to keep is because my dad has always been a strong man of faith who has had a quiet manner among himself as I have a quiet way about me.

I have always had the deepest admiration for my father. He has always been loving and encouraging to me as well.

I have a thing about keeping pictures in my mind because I consider myself a very creatively inclined individual. My mother also has a picture of my father that she loves to keep as the way she always wants to remember him. It is a photo she very quickly asked me to take (I believe last winter) as my dad was sitting in his recliner adamantly reading his Bible.

She said, “This is how I always want to remember him.”

I took it on my phone and sent it to her; she even has it on an Aura app that shows several of her favorite photos shuffling one after the other on a digital frame. This was a gift from my sister, and the photos on the app that show on the frame are gifts from all of us.

I wish to discuss a little bit about what my dad means to me. Father’s Day holds a special feeling for anyone who still has their father, as well as for anyone whose father may not be with them anymore. I know not everyone has a good relationship with their male parental figure, but let me just brag a little on mine because he’s just the most awesome guy on this planet.

I mentioned before that my dad is a strong man of faith. His love for God and drive to personify Jesus’ example of love, faithfulness and obedience shows in every iota of his service to other people. He had a hand in helping to shape my own faith. He is well loved, admired, and respected in every church that he and my mom have placed attendance.

The two of them have done good works to together, whether it is providing communion supplies to take to the Sunday evening devotional service at the retirement facility of University Place on Judge Ely in Abilene or hosting a Bible study at their farmhouse (that is to say when we had one in the past and big enough to host dozens of people).

I remember a time when my brother, Darren, and I were talking about how some people have some famous quotes that are constantly associated with them, catchphrases if you will, and we were attributing some quotes to people we might know personally or relatives.

Darren asked me, “So what do you think would be a good quote to connotate dad and his personality?” That was a no-brainer, and I had a big smile on my face as I replied, “Amen.” Darren started to laugh and said that was the biggest one. We both said in loud dominant voice “Amen” and “Amen” one after another to put out as best an impression of our dad as we could.

My dad’s walk by faith has been a staple in both my siblings’ spiritual development throughout their lives. My faith in Jesus is always something that I lean heavily upon, and I have my dear old dad to partly thank for that.

Aside from being a strong spiritual leader, my father has also been a deeply patriotic fellow. During the Vietnam War, he was drafted and answered the call of duty. He had just married my mother, but I remember my mom telling me once that he told her that he loved his country and he was willing to go over to Vietnam to make sure that America would still be a country in which they could enjoy the freedoms that they held so dear.

He also promised my mother that when he got back, they would start a family. My dad was in the Army. During that time, he was on helicopters most of the time doing reconnaissance over the jungles in that country. He had a few close calls, including a time when a shot went through his pants and missed his leg while he was up in the air.

Another time, he was back in the states for a special ceremony in which my mom was also in attendance. My dad was supposed to be on a helicopter flown for the ceremony, but at the last minute his orders were switched so that he was not to be on the craft. When the helicopter went up into the air, something terrible happened. It went inoperable in the air and crashed to the platform on the ground, killing every person on board.

That story is always one that brings my mother to tears when she tells me, but she’s quick to say, “Dow, God just wanted your daddy to live.”

In 1969, my dad was able to come home, where he and my mom were finally able to start their family with my brother and then later my sister Marlee. I didn’t come around until the mid-1980s.

My dad’s love for his country has always been evident in how he lives and works with his fellow man. He and my mom vote every opportunity they get. They attend every red, white and blue themed event and parade that they can get to.

I once told one of my writing professors at Angelo State about how my dad was a dedicated soldier, a hard worker in the oilfield, a devout Christian, and an excellent provider for his kids. My professor was asking our class for examples of what our society regards a true American as, and when I told him about my father, he didn’t hesitate to cut me off saying, “Sounds like your dad is THE true American!”

Many things do exemplify the pursuit of the American dream and unbreakable spirit of such in my father’s life. He made his career being an oilfield supervisor in parts of West Texas and sometimes even New Mexico.

He’s always been proud of that line of work, going from a local van driver for a company called Merchants to a supervisor for the drilling rigs of oil wells for a company called Walsh N Watts.

He’s been a loving father, although it was hard in the past to be attentive because he had to work night shifts for 10 years. Despite that, my brother and sister had an awesome role model to look up to.

One funny story I remember is a story my mom told me about her, my dad and my brother in church when my brother was still a toddler. Darren had been a little too noisy for the service, so my mother had to pick him up to take him out. My big brother, then very little, panicked and kicked his legs calling out to dad. “Help me, save me, Daddy save me!!!”

That memory always had my mother chuckling.

And yes, my father could be quiet and even-tempered most of the time, but he would discipline us when he had to though that wasn’t too often.

Dad is still, to this day, a lot of fun to be around. One of his and my mom’s favorite past times is playing card games together, particularly one called canasta.

As far as our own activities go, we love playing golf and fishing together at our lake house at Lake Fort Phantom.

I said it before that my father is very encouraging, and I believe he admires my liking and ability to draw and/or create fun identities. He always encourages me to do more with my creativity.

I still have my photos I like to keep of my dad. One of him in a red shirt with a card shuffler. Quite a few of us playing golf together.

One that is my favorite of the two of us in our “oilfield” attire during the time I was considering being a trucker in the oilfield.

There’s also a certain image I have in my mind that I want to paint someday. It’s a recent deal of my dad at a choir event at ACU. A patriotic songs recital where my dad stood up in the row in front of me and saluted the big, bright American flag on the stage behind the singers as the Pledge of Allegiance was given. The whole auditorium shown in red lighting. I am thinking this, too, is an idyllic image of my father I want to always keep in my mind.

Thank you Hank Davis for everything. For being my father.