Central Honors Beloved Citizen

Sometimes the extent of a man’s life is so vast that even those closest to him have no idea what that man has been up to all these years.
Such is the story of James David, owner with his wife Jeannie of David’s Mobil and Dairy Queen on Hooper Road in Central.  Of course, Jeannie and their children Chad, Craig, and Cristi knew their husband and father was a very generous man.  They saw evidence of that every day.  What they did not know was the extent of it!
But when James, known to family and many friends as Pops, passed away April 23, 2017, they witnessed an outpouring of love and sadness from the Central community that few families have ever experienced.  And the stories, oh the stories that never end!
“Now I know why we never seemed to have any money!” Jeannie laughed.
During the wake at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., the staff was amazed when more than 1,500 people lined up to pay their respects.  Many other mourners came but saw the line and could not stay.  The staff said no politician, sports figure or celebrity had ever attracted half that number of mourners. Many of those who came had no idea how much they had in common with the others who stood in line, but most had been touched by the extraordinary kindness and generosity of James David.
Some who came to the wake wept as they told the stories of what James David had done for them.  Some were sad because they felt they had never fully repaid or thanked him.  But most laughed as they recounted some crazy joke he had told them or some trick he played on them, or something he did to make them smile, often during hard times.
He always wanted to bring happiness to people, his son Chad said in his eulogy during the funeral at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Baton Rouge.
One of James David’s favorite pastimes was dancing. Chad told this story about his father: “Dad absolutely loved Swamp Pop music.  He had so much energy that he took mom to dance all night on Saturday and still woke up to open early Sunday morning. During one LSU season, my wife Amy and I took Dad to Lambeau Field to watch LSU and Wisconsin. After the game he was bummed because we lost — until we got back to the hotel! When we arrived, they had live music!  He went from bummed to really happy.  He danced with my wife until he wore her out.  Then he danced with my friend’s wife Stephanie, until he wore her out.  Stephanie came back to the table and said ‘Chad, I’m 48 and cannot keep up with your dad! Those little feet keep moving 100 miles per hour!’ So, I gave the waitress a $100 bill to dance with him until the band stopped for the night.  He truly had the fastest feet on the planet!”
In an interview, his sidekick, best friend, and wife of 51 years alternated between laughing and crying as she told about the people who came by the store after James died. The store was closed in remembrance of James, but friends kept dropping by anyway, leaving flowers, signs and messages of thanks taped to the front door.
If someone was hungry, James David fed them.  If they didn’t have money, he put it on their tab or said, “Don’t worry about it!” and made a joke about something.  Often when a family was desperate, he’d take them to the dollar store and buy whatever they needed.  “I thought he was gone to get supplies, but he was giving things away! That was him!” Jeannie laughed.
When the store reopened a few days after the funeral, it was emotionally difficult to be there, because so many people came in crying.
“One lady came in and was overcome with emotion as she remembered all the boxes of groceries he had bought for her family,” Jeannie said.
Another lady came in. She told how years earlier she and her husband were living paycheck to paycheck, and she got pregnant. There was no way they could afford a baby. But James told her, “No, you’re going to have that baby, and it’s going to be a boy!”  She went home, thought about it, and decided to have the baby. It was a boy! Today he is grown, and they are so happy James told them what to do!
“James’ biggest concern was young adults and all the adversity they incur, especially the drugs and other temptations they face. He wanted to make people laugh and be happy. He worked hard to find people jobs,” she said.
Another woman and her husband were on hard times. She came by every morning and got coffee but couldn’t afford breakfast.  When James found out what was going on, he made her eat breakfast but wouldn’t let her pay. This continued daily for two years until the family got on their feet. After James died, the lady came in and told the cashier what he had done.
In a time when many fast food restaurants completely shut down if their computer or credit card machine isn’t working, James David had a different philosophy: If the credit card machine wasn’t working, then it was free! He figured, “Well, it’s not the customer’s fault the credit card machine isn’t working. Why should he be inconvenienced?” After the funeral, many people came by and said things like “The credit card machine wasn’t working. So he gave me my poboy free!”  All in a day’s work for James David!
David’s Mobil includes a cafeteria-style serving area. It has always been old school, a place where you can come in and get a home-cooked meal. Mr. David would keep a tab for you if you forgot your wallet or were low on cash.
He was a huge fan of LSU athletics and Central High football. Before every home game, he fed the Central team free of charge.  Just his way of helping out!
When James died, the Central football team lined the road to pay their respects as the family and the hearse passed by.
James David’s Finest Hour
Perhaps James David’s finest hour came when disaster and hardship hit the Central community  during Hurricane Katrine, Hurricane Gustav, and the flood of August 2016. In Central, Gustav caused far worse damage than did Katrina.
Two businesses distinguished themselves in those days after the hurricanes, Central Drugs and David’s Tiger Express. Years later, the two businesses shared the honor of Central’s Business of the Decade for the period 2005 to 2015,
“David’s Mobil opened Tuesday morning when Hurricane Gustav had barely passed, and they were a tremendous blessing to this community,” Fire chief Bill Porche said.
For the next week to 10 days, it was almost impossible to get food or gasoline in the Baton Rouge area.  Everything simply shut down — everything except David’s Mobil, on the corner of Hooper and Joor roads in Central! It actually never really closed.
In many ways, David’s Mobil was a model of what every business should be like in a disaster: They recognized that hurricanes and floods hit our community, they had a plan for dealing with them, and they executed their plan with precision.
After Hurricane Gustav, David’s served more than 1,000 cars a day from Tuesday through Saturday. It served customers who lined up on Hooper Road as far as one mile, all the way to Sullivan Road.
When other gas stations finally opened days later, they rationed the gas. But James David  didn’t believe in rationing because it has the opposite of the intended effect, causing people to try to get more than they need and then hoard it.  He said people actually get less if they are not rationed because they feel no pressure to stock up. He allowed each driver to pull up to the pump by himself and pump as much gas as he needed. “We wanted to give people space, make them feel comfortable that there was plenty
of gas, and not to panic,” he said.
Like the gas station, the David’s convenience store and restaurant opened beginning Tuesday morning after Gustav and did what could be called a “landslide” of business. Besides gasoline, the most popular products were ice, beer, milk, bread, fried chicken and snacks. Mr. James  did limit the number of people in the store at one time, since it was the only place open for hundreds of thousands of people. He never raised his prices, although it would have been easy to do so.
During the historic, 1,000-year flood of August 2016, David’s Mobil faced an even greater task because more than 80 percent of the homes in Central flooded.  Since most Baton Rouge businesses were still open, David’s was not the only source of help but it’s proximity to the flooding, which extended for miles in every direction, made the job even bigger than in Katrina and Gustav.
Customers praised David’s for staying open and serving the public so well, treating customers more like they were his family or best friend. One person said, “They did in a disaster what every business should do but very few did.”
The secret to the David’s’ success was planning. James David said he focused on four things:
•    “We stocked up before the hurricane hit.”
•    “We told our vendors in advance that we were going to be open. So they knew we would be there
waiting for them to resupply us.”
•    “We told our employees that we were going to be open. Then we actually went and picked them up and brought them to work, so they didn’t have to worry about transportation.”
•    “Our generator was ready to go!”
He arranged in advance to provide fuel to the Central Fire Department, EMS, the Sheriff, FEMA,  Central Public Works Department, and Zoar Baptist Church’s special response team. He kept the center lanes open exclusively for them.
The major flaw in the plan was traffic control, but that was solved the Tuesday of the storm.
Mr. David said he was very grateful to his suppliers, employees, and customers. He had special thanks for volunteers who helped through difficult circumstances.
David said the Collette family of RAC Oil made sure David’s Mobil received three truckloads of fuel a day. The Collettes live on Shoe Creek Drive in Central, and they weren’t about to abandon the community.
“It was all so unbelievable!” David said. Indeed it was!
With the help of James David and his team and Claud Derbes and his crew, Central survived those hard times of Katrina and Gustav and came back stronger than ever. Now David’s continues its work everyday, helping people recover from the flood.
Friend Lori Brocato LeBlanc said this about James David: “Mr. James lived life to the fullest. This man worked very hard but he also had just as much fun.”
The truth is, he danced through life and even his family never truly knew how fast his feet were moving!
James David stood only 5’5” but seemed shorter.  One of his employees described him best:
“A 10-foot man in a 5-foot body.”
James Newton David is survived by his wife Jeannie; son Chad, his wife Amy, and their children Alec, Grace, Grant, Miles, and Lucy and Lauren Whittington; son Craig, his wife Dara, and their children Brelynn, Breanna and Brandt; and daughter Cristi David Nolen, her husband Shane, and their children Austin and Alli. He is also survived by his mother, Mildred Jarreau Smith; his sister Jeanette Felps, her husband Al, and their son Christopher; brother-in-laws and their wives Pete and Liz Ragusa, Phil and Peachy Ragusa, Ben and Patti Ragusa; and sister-in-law and her husband Angie and Leroy Cates. He is preceded in death by his father Newton Paul David.
Today, James and Jeannie’s son Craig David has taken over running the store and the family’s commitment to Central is unwavering.  The David family intends on developing The James N. David Plaza somewhere in Central in honor of Pops.