The Community Foundation of Randolph County continues to celebrate local heroes who have impacted the community or exceeded expectations to serve others. This effort is the result of a Community Foundation program that helps recognize such people, while also raising money to help others. The program started in 2015, and since that date, this nomination will make the 30th Randolph County Hero. For $1,000 anyone can nominate a person (living or deceased), business, or community organization for the designation of a Randolph County Hero. The money goes into an unrestricted fund, which the Community Foundation uses to do and support great things in Randolph County for years to come. Gifts made to endowed, unrestricted funds, such as the Randolph County Heroes Fund, will be matched $2 dollars for every $1 dollar donated through December 31, 2025, or while matching funds last.
Those designated as Randolph County Heroes will have their names on a plaque at the Foundation office and will be featured in media outlets. The Randolph County Heroes Fund is a great way to honor those currently working to make Randolph County a better place to live or to remember and recognize the impact of someone who has passed. Our newest hero, James “Jim” Davis, was nominated by Suzan Dillon Myers and Todd Davis.
A mentor and a visionary financial expert, James “Jim” Davis was an active member of the Union City community for decades. In addition to being a Kiwanian and supporting Rotary, he served as a board member for Randolph Eastern School Corporation as well as a member of councils at Wesley Methodist Church. Jim also was active with the Preservation Society of Union City and the Art Association of Randolph County.
“James Davis was a kind and caring person. Much of what I learned about banking came from his knowledge, which he generously passed on to the new employees of the former Farmers State Bank. He became a good work-related sounding board during my tenure at the bank,” stated Tina Root. “He cared about our community and showed this with his volunteer work with the RESC School Board, the former Union City Hospital, the local Kiwanis Club, and later St. Vincent Randolph Hospital. I don’t think Jim ever met a stranger. He had a zest for life and lived it to its fullest.”
In 1993, a new organization – the Community Foundation of Randolph County – was started, and Jim was there from the beginning, proving instrumental in establishing the path that has led the Community Foundation to become the organization that it is today.
As a former president and CEO of the Farmers State Bank in Union City, Jim brought decades of financial experience to his position on the Board of Directors of a Community Foundation of Randolph County that was still in its infancy. In fact, his understanding of finance proved highly useful for both Union City and the Community Foundation.
In 1999, discussions were occurring about how Union City should use the proceeds from the sale of the local hospital, and Jim decided to become involved in the conversations with an idea that would change the trajectory of the Community Foundation as well as ensure the sale of the hospital was a long-term gain for the community.
As a board member of the Community Foundation that was continuing its slow-but-steady growth, Jim knew that Lilly Endowment Inc. was offering an opportunity that was too good to pass up: matching of gifts to endowed funds at community foundations. If the funds from the hospital sale were used to establish a new endowed fund at the Community Foundation, organizations serving Union City would have a perpetual funding stream and the Community Foundation would experience a significant increase in assets, helping to support its mission to improve Randolph County.
Jim’s idea, with backing from a number of other influential citizens, eventually carried the day and the Union City Community Fund, a component fund of the Community Foundation of Randolph County, was born. Today, the Union City Community Fund has over $700,000 in assets, resulting in nearly $30,000 annually available for grants to the organizations serving Union City.
“On July 6th of 1973 Jim Davis and Bob Thompson called me for an interview at Farmer State Bank. We met for approximately one hour and discussed many topics and I was very fortunate to be hired by them on July 9, 1973,” shared Gene Marsh, one of the advisors to the Union City Community Fund. “Over my 25 years at Farmer State Bank, Jim was very helpful to me, showing me how to be a small-town banker. He was always very kind and helpful and community minded. With Jim’s patience and kind demeanor I was able to start out as a teller and work my way up to a consumer loan officer. With Jim’s help and patience, I was able to have a 47-year career in community banking in Union City.”
Throughout his life, James “Jim” Davis helped to ensure the success and vitality of Union City and all of Randolph County, which is why he is and will always be a Randolph County Hero.