***The date of death is incorrect due to archiving purposes.****
Roy B. Davis Jr. 1939-2022
Born in Junction City, KY, Roy was the second child of Roy B. Davis, Sr. and Marguerite Schroeder. The family lived in Bowling Green and Louisville before moving to Dayton, Ohio. Roy served two years in the Naval Reserve, then graduated from University of Dayton and went on to Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, for his master’s degree in art education.
He is survived by his wife, Constance Alexander; and sons, Andrew (and wife Sondra Von Burg) in Berkeley, California, and Noah, in Carbondale, Colorado. Grandchildren in California are Ollie Marie and Peter Helm Davis; and in Colorado, Petunia Rose and Dewey B. Davis.
Roy taught art in Ohio and New Jersey, worked as a career counselor in New York and served as the Deputy Director at the Montclair Art Museum before returning to Kentucky as Director of University Art Galleries at Murray State University.
For 25 years, until he retired in 2018, Roy founded and operated Bert & Bud’s Vintage Coffins, a unique custom coffin and urn business known for its clever slogans— “Don’t be caught dead without one” and “We put the fun back in funerals”. During this time, he made hundreds of custom coffins and urns for customers including steamboat captains, professional Santas and many more. He could often be seen in his beloved Toyota pickup hustling around Murray.
With his quick wit and sense of humor, Roy made everyday life a work of art. He and Connie hosted annual Christmas parties where guests toasted to his unique Christmas trees, including a tree in a woodchipper, one made of pork chops and many more. In earlier years, he performed on stage, wrote essays about growing up in Kentucky, painted, and created pottery and drawings. In many ways, Roy embodied the creative life, where everything was an opportunity to create something unique.
Roy was a tremendous storyteller with a deep interest and empathy for the human condition and the family that raised him up. He researched his family history and ancestry tracing his lineage back to the 14th century in England. Yes, he was descended from royalty.
He recently held a retrospective show of half-sized coffin sculptures, representing the lives and often tragic deaths of his own extended family, at the Wrather Gallery at MSU. In his last few years, he created less but was no less interested in the people around him. Roy will be remembered and cherished as a kind, creative, and charming father, husband and friend who valued ideas, art and the people who created them.
Gather with us on February 25, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at Playhouse in the Park, Central Park, 701 Gil Hopson Dr., Murray, KY to celebrate the life of Roy “Bud” Davis, Jr. Please join us for a reception at 3:00 p.m. at the Playhouse in the Park Annex, 907 Arcadia Circle, Murray, KY, to share your favorite stories and memories.
As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be made to the Playhouse in the Park, 701 Gil Hopson Dr., Murray, KY 42071 or the Anna Mae Owen Residential Hospice House, c/o The Foundation at MCCH, 803 Poplar St., Murray, KY 42071
