David Arthur Mays, a longtime resident of Florence, Alabama, who served in the Korean War before a distinguished career as an agronomist, died peacefully at home in Amissville, Virginia, on August 9 after a brief illness. He was 93.
David was born on April 17, 1929, in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. His lifelong passion for the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and farming were instilled in the rural mountains and forests of northern Pennsylvania. After graduating high school in Tioga, Pennsylvania he joined the ROTC while earning a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Penn State University. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army, 40th Infantry Division, David served as a communications officer in the 160th Infantry Regiment in Korea (1952-53). David was awarded the Bronze Star for merit after his platoon’s alternate line network connecting regimental headquarters to the frontline battalion was the only one to remain in service during an artillery and mortar barrage in the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge.
In 1954, he was honorably discharged from the Army as a First Lieutenant and was married to Betty Ann Sellers, originally of Geneva, Alabama, whom he met while stationed at Fort Rucker in Alabama. David then embarked on a career as an agronomist, first working for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Extension Service and later returning to Penn State, where he earned master’s and doctorate degrees in agronomy.
After graduate school, David worked as an Assistant Manager at the Virginia Tech Research Station in Middleburg, Virginia. In 1963, he began work as a research agronomist for the Tennessee Valley Authority at Muscle Shoals, managing the Research Farm for the National Fertilizer Development Center (NFDC). Over the next 25 years at TVA, he worked to further the mission of the NFDC, editing, authoring, and contributing to scores of books, journals, and research papers. In 1970, he represented the United States at the International Grasslands Congress in Australia.
David was an adjunct professor for several decades at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, where he taught agronomy, turfgrass and wetland science, and continued to conduct research on projects to benefit Alabama and the Black Belt in particular. He served as an advisor to graduate students and contributed to many thesis committees.
A member of the American Society of Agronomy, the American Forage and Grassland Council, and the Alabama Turfgrass Association, David was also a lifetime member of Penn State Alumni Association and the American Legion. He proudly served as an officer in the Korean War Veterans Association and the Combat Infantryman’s Association.
David and his family lived for 57 years in the Forest Hills neighborhood in Florence, where he and Betty Ann were engaged in the community. They enjoyed card playing, square dancing, theater going and talking with their children at the supper table.
He tended their home garden with love; it was the envy of all who saw it, especially the two enormous fig trees that grew there for well over 50 years. Until very recently, David continued riding his John Deere tractor in Amissville, making sure the lawn and garden were well cared for.
For many years, David was a Sunday school teacher and deacon of the First Presbyterian Church of Florence, as well as a member of the Florence Exchange Club.
He was an enthusiastic traveler, having visited six continents, dozens of countries, and all fifty U.S. states. In recent years, he went on several memorable trips with his son, Greg, including an African safari, a trek to Machu Picchu and the Amazon River in Peru, dining atop the Rock of Gibraltar; touring many European countries, China, and perhaps most meaningfully, returning to Korea with a group of Korean War veterans.
David’s kindness, pragmatic sensibility, and limitless knowledge about a wide range of topics will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him. He had the patience of Job, and the wisdom of, well, of David.
He leaves his son, Gregory David Mays, and his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Schoetz Mays, of Amissville, Virginia, and his daughter, Laurie Ann Mays of Dallas, Texas. David was predeceased by his parents, Arthur Linn Mays and Edith (Breakey) Mays; and in 2010 by his loving wife of 56 years, Betty Ann (Sellers) Mays. Additionally, he is survived by sister-in-law Fay Sellers of Colorado Springs, Colorado, cousin Tom Gay of Thomasville, Florida; nephews and nieces, and numerous cousins.
Family and friends are invited to join in a funeral service that will be held at the Greenview Memorial Chapel in Florence on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, at 11:00 AM. The Rev. Brandon Miles will be officiating.
A private burial will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, those who wish to make a gift in David’s memory are encouraged to contribute to the First Presbyterian Church of Florence, Alabama, 224 E Mobile St, Florence, AL 35630, https://www.fpcflorence.org/give-1.
