Jimmy Lee Davenport was born May 6, 1952, in Nampa, Idaho to Johnny and Hazel Davenport. Because of the man he admired, Jimmy Stewart, the actor, military pilot and instructor in Boise during War II, he was always pleased to be called Jimmy.
Jimmy grew up in Nampa and never left his hometown. He graduated from Nampa High School in 1971, after being active in cross country, track and loved playing and traveling with the high school stage and marching band.
After graduation, Jimmy served his country through the Air National Guard. He performed his duties at Gowen field in Boise for the next 6 years where he refueled Jet airplanes. He even enjoyed the smell of jet fuel because of his lifelong admiration of airplanes.
In 1975, he married Linda Gingras and had a son, Michael Lee in 1983. The joy of Jimmy’s life was when his first granddaughter, Emma, was born. When he was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, his goal was to see his twin grandbabies Alice and Elliot born that August.
The Lord brought him through a number of difficult situations in his life which included a devastating divorce. Even though he had accepted Jesus Christ at age 8, it was after that loss of his family that he surrendered fully to his Lord and Savior, and he spent his life serving him. It was his privilege to participate in several work and witness trips to Barbados, the Philippines, Jamaica, and Elko, Nevada. After his retirement in 2015, he devoted his time to YWAM in Hawaii, Mission Aviation Fellowship and Love Inc. in Nampa, where he served wholeheartedly alongside his brothers in Christ.
Jimmy was a hard worker and began as a youth by mowing lawns then as a teenager driving a truck to haul potatoes for local farmers. He worked for Howard’s auto body shop in high school. From there he went on until he found his niche at Elks Rehabilitation Hospital in Boise, Idaho where he transported patients for 20 years. He had a God-given gift of listening and making a person feel valued and heard. The nurses would come to him to get the history on the patients he had just delivered.
He devoted much time to his 5 siblings and numerous nieces and nephews. Making it a priority to visit each one and assist them with any job that needed tackling, from home repair to chopping wood. His relationship to his family is what makes his leaving this Earth, February 18th , 2025, so sorrowful but we do rejoice in the hope of seeing Jimmy again because of Jesus’ promise to those who follow Him.