Ted Helton Davis
Petty Officer 3rd Class (SEAL), U.S. Navy
Ted Helton Davis was born on 11 October 1970 in Natchez, MS, to Keith and Harley Davis.
He was a rough and tumble boy who loved sports and nature and all things associated with it. From the time he was tiny he loved numbered athletic shirts; he indicated that as soon as he was able, he would be a participant in anything sports-related. He grew up being a fierce competitor and daredevil; never afraid of injury. He mastered snow and water skiing, swimming, hunting and many other activities.
Ted was a dynamo on the football field playing at Parklane Academy and Southwest Mississippi Community College. Determined to win for the team, friends say he became a totally different person on the field because he was so fierce.
Being a Mississippi boy, his love of nature gravitated to fishing and hunting. He shot his first deer when he was twelve. Turkey became his game of choice and he was a responsible hunter, becoming a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, an organization dedicated to conserving wild turkeys and preserving hunting traditions.
Military Service
Ted encountered his most daunting challenge when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and, during boot camp, signed up to become a Navy SEAL. Through the (at the time) Divefarer Program, Ted excelled and surpassed the necessary exams to bypass Hell Week and entered the SEALs upon graduation.
He worked under the command of some of the greatest Master Divers in the Navy. Some of his missions included assisting in submarine lockout diving operations. In such operations, he won the utmost respect of his peers and superiors.
Post-Military Life
Upon leaving the Navy, he married the love of his life, Rebekah Alford, on 27 July 1996. They set about building their life together and both of them were overjoyed when, in late 2000, they learned they were going to have a baby. Tragically, Ted died just months after learning he was to be a dad. His early death left many things he was in the process of doing, unfulfilled.
After leaving the military, Ted entered the world of commercial diving. He was a certified commercial dive instructor, but had also chosen to work as an underwater welder for a company that repairs and maintains oil rigs. Through absolutely no fault of his own, he was killed in a horrendous accident at work.
Death and Burial
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ted Helton Davis died in an on-the-job accident on 11 November 2000. He is buried at Roberts Cemetery in Tangipahoa Parish, LA, in Row 4.
Along with his parents, he leaves behind son, Jack; brothers, Micah and Todd; sister, Claudia, and many extended family members along with many, many friends and people who love him and call him son, brother, grandson, nephew, uncle and cousin.