Jacqueline Davis Thomson

Jacqueline Davis Thomson was born on September 14, 1927, in Birmingham, AL, to John William Davis and Sophronia Louise Longmire, and grew up in Carrollton, AL. Music was always an important part of her life, and among her passions as a child was learning to play the piano. When she was 16, her family bought her a piano, which she kept and shared with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. After graduating from Carrollton High School, she was off to Auburn University, where she was a founding member of Auburn’s synchronized swimming team. It was there that she met her future husband, Jack E Marley of Dothan, AL. After marrying and moving to Tampa to continue his education at the University of Tampa on a football scholarship, they had their children, Kathryn Louise Marley Beard and Melissa Ann Marley. They raised their family to love the outdoors, buying land outside of Tampa on the Pithlachascotee River (aka The Cootee), where they built a cabin and enjoyed many years of horseback riding, swimming, fishing, and crabbing. Later, they fell in love with NC and had a small cabin built on 10 acres on Cullowhee Mountain. Years later, she moved back to Alabama and married her high school sweetheart, Richard R. Thom- son. They had many happy times of seeing the US in their airstream and traveling in Europe. After Dicks passing, she moved back to Tampa and enjoyed watching her grandchildren and great grand-children grow up, playing bridge, going to symphonies, and gardening. Incredibly independent and always able to make the best of any situation she was in, she made traveling a priority once she retired. When she was in her 70s, she and a few girlfriends bought a travel trailer and drove all over the US, only retiring when she totaled the car and trailer in a rainstorm. When she was 80, she travelled to Paris to revisit the places she and her husband so enjoyed. When she was 90, she took a riverboat cruise by herself to see the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. She moved to Winston-Salem in 2018 at 90 to be near her daughter and lived in an independent living apartment. She enjoyed organizing trips to the symphony, playing advanced bridge at the Shepard’s Center, and growing flowers and tomatoes on the patio. In 2024, she decided she wanted more time with her grands and great grands, so at 97, she moved back to Tampa. She is survived by her daughter, Melissa Marley (Bryan Peterson) of Winston-Salem NC, a step- son, Thomas Mark Thomson, of Montgomery, AL, three grandchildren Kenneth Malcolm Beard (Megan Mallett), Mary Jacqueline Marshall (Douglas), all of Tampa, FL, and Jason Marley Siefert (Sarah Bruschi) of Denver, CO, four great grandchildren, Jaylen Marley Marshall, Myla Rae Marshall, Kylie Jean Beard, and Malcolm Ian Beard, all of Tampa, FL. She is also survived by beloved Alabama cousins Yvonne Barefield Lawrence and Eliane Barefield McDavid, who were like sisters to her. She adored all of her Alabama cousins, and she was close to her late husband’s family as well.
She was predeceased by her parents, John William Davis and Sophronia Louise Longmire Davis of Carrollton, AL, her daughter Kathryn Louise Marley Beard, formerly of Keystone Heights, FL, and husband Richard R. Thomson, formerly of Northport, AL. A graveside service will be held in Carrollton, AL, on June 13th at 11:00 am. Memorials may be made to Keystone Heights Elementary School, Kathy Beard Special Education Fund, 335 SW Pecan St, Keystone Heights, FL 32656.