Bo Davis had a passion, and he was not short on living up to it.

Davis lost his seven-year battle with cancer within the last few months, but his legacy still remains at his long-time church, Prospect United Methodist Church, located at 6752 Hwy. 212 in Covington in the Oak Hill community. The church will hold a book sale of the about 10,000 books he collected during his lifetime Sept. 4-6.

“There’s every kind of thing you can imagine,” said Rev. Ron Compton, pastor of fellowship and music at Prospect UMC. “We have over 500 boxes.”

Church personnel went to his house to pick the books up, which took two trailer and four pickup loads. They then had to sort through the boxes, dividing them into respective genres and organizing them into sections in the Lockett Family Life Center gym. There will be one room just for children’s books.

“He had a book store set up in our church, but he gave more away than he ever sold,” Compton said.

Davis’s wife, Dodie Davis, said she wants her husband’s books to go to a good use, rather than just recycling them, Compton said.

That good use will be to use all proceeds from the book sale toward a church mission trip to Thailand, where a nine-person team will visit the House of Grace, a girls’ home and haven for homeless girls. The team is traveling at the end of December, “taking Christmas to them.”

The trip costs about $2,500 per person, and Compton said if the sale can cover one person’s expenses, that would be a success.

A dentist and hygienists are on the mission team and plan to give 120 checkups.

“If someone wants to purchase a large bulk (of books), let’s make a deal,” Compton said. “Our goal is to raise some money. It’s unashamedly a fundraiser.”

Bo and Dodie Davis have been residents of Covington for the last 20 years. Their grandchildren are the family’s ninth generation to attend Prospect UMC, which itself is more than 180 years old.

Compton said he loves that through everything, Davis is still with him and the church.

“Even in his death, he is a part of this,” Compton said. “Not many people leave a legacy behind like this.”