City officials mourned the death of City Manager Kenneth Davis Friday.

Davis, 59, died Friday morning at Natchez Regional Medical Center, according to a statement from Laird Funeral Home in Natchez.

City attorney Jack McLemore said Davis’s death was a tremendous loss to the City of Vidalia.

“He had a complete understanding of all of our major projects, and he had a valuable historical knowledge of all of them,” McLemore said.

Davis’s death was also a personal loss to him, McLemore said.

“He was a good friend, first of all,” McLemore said. “Ever since I came over here to practice law, we’ve known each other.”

Mayor Hyram Copeland said Davis served the city for 30 years under three mayors including Sidney Murray Jr., Sam Randazzo and himself.

Davis was involved in every local, state and federal project in which the city was involved, he said.

“As the city’s manager, he was controller of every financial aspect of the town from payroll to utility issues,” Copeland said. “A person like that comes along, as far as I’m concerned, once in a lifetime.”

Alderman Maureen “Mo” Saunders said Davis was a big help to her when she started working for the city.

“When I came into this I didn’t know anything about running a city,” she said. “I didn’t understand anything about sewage or millage but Kenny was so patient and always had time to explain things to me. Now I know so much more.”

Davis cared about people too, she said.

“He cared about people’s utility bills, he cared about the finances of the city, he cared about the mayor, and there are not a lot of people like that,” Saunders said. “They feel like it’s just a job. He didn’t. Kenny cared about everybody.”

Copeland said the city will consult a representative from the Silas Simmons accounting firm in Natchez to manage the city’s finances on an interim basis, but that it was too soon to start looking for a permanent replacement for Davis.

“You work with somebody like that for 27 years, it’s tough,” he said. “Not only was he my friend, but we’ve lost an (intrinsic) part of our city family.”

Funeral services for Davis will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday at St. Mary Basilica.

Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time Sunday at the church.