William Tyson Davis

William Tyson Davis Sr. passed away on August 30, 2022, at his home in Bakersfield, California, with his wife Alexandria by his side. William was born on June 29, 1942, in Los Angeles, California to Dorothy Herd Davis.

William grew up in Bakersfield and attended East Bakersfield High School, Class of 1960. After High School, William Joined the United States Army in 1961. During his military service, he spent 18 months in Germany, and often told stories about this time in his life. He was honorably discharged from the military in 1964 at the rank of E-5 Sergeant. In 2021, he was recognized for his service by the Honor Flight of Kern County.

In 1965, he met the love of his life, Alexandria, and they were married in February 1967, until his death. William and Alexandria raised two children, Shari, and Tyson.

In 1969, William joined the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and began a career in law enforcement. He held assignments in the jail, Metro Patrol, Taft Substation, Detectives, Communication Center, Vice, and Licensing. William was instrumental in implementing the original 911 Emergency Telephone system in use today in Kern County, and he was also a representative on the statewide committee to develop the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) that is also still in use today by all law enforcement agencies in California. He also helped organize and raise funds to build the Kern County Law Enforcement Memorial. William retired from the Sheriff’s Office in 1998.

After retiring from the Sheriff’s Office, he began working part-time for the Kern Highschool District as a campus supervisor. He later spent a few years working as a supervisor for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). In 2005, he and a business partner opened a motorcycle shop where they converted Harley Davidson and Honda Goldwing motorcycles into trikes. Unfortunately, due to the burst of the housing bubble in 2008, they decided to close the shop. 

Over the next 10 years, William spent time traveling across the country with his wife, in their motorhome. William also found time to become a member of the Shriners and enjoyed raising money to help the Shriners Childrens Hospital.

William was proud of his family and he loved being Papa Bill to all his grandchildren, and enjoyed attending their school and sports activities. He never missed an event!

William had a strong faith in Christ and spent his adult life as a member of the Church of Christ. During his life, he served on many church committees, often volunteered his time driving the Joy Bus, helping those less fortunate within the community, and serving as camp director for the Yosemite Bible Camp.

William is survived by his wife of 55 years, Alexandria, his daughter Shari (Bobby), and his son Tyson (Tiffany). He is also survived by numerous grandchildren, Mallory (Shane), Fletcher (Adrienne), Storm (Franky), Bryson and Blake. Great Grand-Children Lucas and Brayden.

A funeral service will be held on Friday September 9, 2022. There will be a private viewing for the family at Basham Funeral Care 3312 Niles St at 7:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m. there will be a procession from Basham Funeral Care to the Bakersfield National Cemetery for a burial service at 9:15 a.m. William will be transported to the cemetery by a Harley Davidson trike for “One Last Ride.”  

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Shriners Childrens Hospital. Condolences may be left on William Davis’ online guest book at www.bashamfuneralcare.com