Eugene Halston Davis

Eugene Halston Davis (92) passed away May 7, 2021 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He was born October 16, 1928 to Elbert Halston Davis and Mary Elizabeth Dick in Independence, Missouri. 

Eugene grew up in Independence, Missouri, until the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, soon after his father’s passing in 1947. Eugene lived most of his life in Salt Lake City, Utah, but also lived in Washington D.C., Los Angeles California, Roy, Ogden, and Pleasant View, Utah. He attended Northeast High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University, and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Utah. He married Carol Toronto on June 24, 1957 in the Salt Lake Temple.  Carol passed away on January 14, 2010 after 53 years of marriage. After Carol’s passing, Eugene married Marcielle Barney, of Pleasant View. 

He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His mission service was in southern California where he served without purse or script for two years. He served in Blythe, California for 22 months. He also served as the stake mission president and on the high council in the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake.  He also served in the Yale Ward bishopric. In his 80’s, he and Marcielle served a mission together in Torrington, Wyoming.

Soon after his mission to California, Eugene served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict and was stationed in Germany. After earning his law degree and marrying Carol, Gene and Carol set out on their life together with Carol supporting his career as they raised a large family together with mom as the anchor at home. In the early 1960s, Gene was an FBI agent spending most of his time in the Los Angeles area. He also worked a short time for United Airlines. Coming back to Utah, he worked as an insurance agent living in Roy and Ogden, Utah, for two or three years. He then accepted a position as an attorney at the firm, Romney, Nelson, & Cassity, in Salt Lake City where he practiced law for a little more than ten years.  For a few years after that he worked as in-house attorney for an insurance agency and investment firms. Then in 1982, he was appointed as the U.S. Marshal for the Utah District by President Ronald Reagan, where he enjoyed his favorite job until retiring in 1994. Gene was an avid reader and he loved driving cars. During all this time, Gene and Carol were blessed with 13 children.  Two of those children, Milton Toronto Davis, and Emily Davis died in infancy. Music and the gospel of Jesus Christ were a large part of their family life.

He is survived by 11 children--Jefferson Toronto (Janet) Davis, Halston Toronto (Lorraine) Davis, Benjamin Toronto (Janet) Davis, Andrea “Andi” Davis, Elizabeth “Libby” Davis, Wallace Toronto (Allyson) Davis, Virginia Davis (Steve) Wood, Lydia Davis (Kyle) Free, Carol Davis (Craig) Zimmerman, Charlotte “Charlie” Davis and Reagan Davis. At the time of his passing there are 52 grandchildren and 53 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by three sisters--Virginia (Howard) Hausknecht, Bonnie (Paul) Grant, and Sharon (Steve) Anderson. 

Funeral services will be held Friday, May 21, 2021, 11:00 a.m. at the Pleasant View chapel, 900 West Pleasant View Drive, Pleasant View, Utah. A viewing will be held prior to the service at the church from 9:30 to 10:40 a.m. Interment is at the Ben Lomond Cemetery, 526 East, 2850 North, North Ogden, Utah. The grave site is found in the smaller section of the cemetery just east of 575 East street and just south of North Ogden Jr. High.  

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the LDS Church Missionary Fund in Eugene’s honor. The family appreciates the care given to Eugene from the staff at Alta Ridge Assisted Living of Holladay during the last year of his life.

Service will be live-streamed. To watch the service, scroll to the bottom of Eugene’s obituary on Friday, May 21, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., www.myers-mortuary.com where condolences may also be sent to the family. If unable to watch at this time the service will be on our website indefinitely.

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