Sebastian William Davis of Truro, known as Sibby, died on June 29, 2022 at the Regal Care Center in Harwich with his son Brian by his side. He was 97.

One of William and Mary Augusta (Viera) Davis’s five children, Sibby was born in Truro on Sept. 27, 1924. He grew up in Truro and left school after the ninth grade to work before enlisting in the Navy in 1941.

As a first-class gunner’s mate, he helped commission and was among the first crew members who served on the battleship U.S.S. Massachusetts. Accordingly, he was an honorary plank member with his inscribed name confirming that honor on the ship. After its commissioning, the ship took part in the battle of North Africa.

He later attended the Naval Submarine School in New London, Conn. and was assigned to the Pacific theater on the submarine U.S.S. Corvina. Fortunately, he was reassigned from the ship before Nov. 4, 1943, the day the submarine left Pearl Harbor to intercept Japanese ships near the island of Turk. The Corvina never returned.

After the war, Sibby returned to Truro and as a self-taught carpenter began building a two-bedroom house in town in 1946. The following year, he married Doris Morris, also a Truro native. In later years, with the births of their children, Sibby added a second floor to the house.

With Norman Lee, he established a business called Lee and Davis. At first, they built houses before focusing exclusively on plumbing, heating, and well drilling. Wanting to work more independently, Sibby set out on his own to found S.W. Davis Plumbing and Heating.

According to his son Brian, Sibby “was always going; he worked hard. He was a good man,” who was always involved in some form of service to others.

In retirement he was an assistant harbormaster in Truro. As a volunteer at the town’s transfer station, he helped raise money through the collection of bottles and cans that would be donated to the senior center or the Boy Scouts.

He was a lifelong member of both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and served as sergeant at arms of the latter. He was well known for selling American flags at Truro’s Fourth of July parades, and he assisted his granddaughter-in -law Arozana Davis in the planning of the new Veterans Memorial in Truro Center.

Throughout his life, he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He took his sons to a 12-by-16-foot log cabin in the back country of Maine to hunt deer. In the summer, he would take them up and down the beaches of Truro and Wellfleet, fishing for striped bass from the shore.

He was also, according to his sons, “a hell of a ballplayer,” who, as a pitcher with a sidearm delivery, played baseball during his time in the Navy. In later years, he played softball every week at Snow’s Field in Truro, sharing the experience with his sons, who remember those times fondly.

He is survived by his two sons, Wayne S. Davis and wife Joyce of Wellfleet and Brian G. Davis and wife Jeanne of Truro; by his grandchild, Jamie Sebastian Davis of Wellfleet and wife Arozana; by great-grandchildren Anwyn Tesson Davis and Rayf Sebastian Davis of Wellfleet; and by many step-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Sibby was predeceased by his beloved wife, Doris.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 20 at St. Peter the Apostle Church, 11 Prince St., Provincetown. Burial, with military honors, will follow in Sacred Heart Cemetery, Truro.

Memorial donations in Sibby’s name may be made to a veterans’ charity of the donor’s choice.

To leave a memory or a message of condolence, visit the guest book at gatelyfuneralservice.com.