Longtime county official dies at 91

Former longtime Culpeper Commissioner of the Revenue Pete Davies died Wednesday following a brief illness. He was 91.

Born John Andrew Bowersett “Pete” Davies on Oct. 18, 1918, he served as commissioner of the revenue for 32 years, beginning in 1939. Before that, he served as a deputy in the office responsible for assessing and establishing the value of property for tax purposes.

“I was 2 when my father was killed in an automobile accident, so when I was growing up, he was like my father,” said John “Butch” Davies, a longtime Culpeper resident and nephew of Pete Davies.

Most years, he said, Pete Davies faced no opposition when running for the office.

Recalling how he accompanied his uncle as a young boy, “I used to laugh,” Butch Davies said. “He used to say he never campaigned, and I used to say that he used to campaign every day of his life. He was certainly was wonderful.”

Butch Davies also recalled his uncle as someone who was always willing to help residents sort out a tax issue by writing a letter, paying a visit to another local official or doing whatever else was necessary to help people resolve their problems.

Pete Davies was the 1937 class valedictorian at Christ Church School.

He attended the University of Virginia and T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. A veteran of World War II, he served in the European theater and was honorably discharged in 1945.

In 1946, he married Mary Lillian Purdum of Danville, a longtime high school math teacher. She died in 2003.

A lifelong member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, he was a trustee and served three terms as senior warden and four terms as junior warden.

In addition to Butch Davies, survivors include his two sons, John A. B. Davies Jr. and Lea Purdum Davies.

A graveside funeral service will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Fairview Cemetery, with the Rev. Michael Gray officiating. A time of fellowship in the Parish Hall of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church will follow.

Instead of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Building and Maintenance Fund, 115 N. East St., Culpeper, VA 22701.