David Davenport Obituary

David William Davenport, Sr., 86, of Bunnlevel, North Carolina passed away on Friday, March 29, 2024 at his home. 

Dave was born on March 31, 1937 in Hot Springs, North Carolina to the late Charles Carlyle Davenport and Viola Margaret Pittman Davenport.  He was a veteran of the United States Air Force and served his country proudly.  After retiring from the Air Force in 1977, Dave went back to school and earned a degree from Fayetteville Technical Institute in Photography and Graphic Arts. He then returned to Pope Air Force Base and worked there as a base photographer and graphic artist until his second retirement in 2006.  It was during this time that he created the “Herky Bird” character, an anthropomorphized C-130 airplane with a personality and a sense of humor.  Already known worldwide as an expert on the history of the Hercules C-130 airplane, he became better known for his Herky Bird cartoons, which were a regular feature in the Pope AFB newspaper and on Air Force bases around the world.