Roy Dempsey Davis, 85, of Dallas, Texas; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Jupiter, Fla.; and Cat Cay, Bahamas, passed away on June 16.

He was a child of Anna Pearl Richmond and Roy Whitaker Davis, formerly of Witcherville, Ark. He was an early Christmas gift to his family as he was born December 23, 1929.

Davis was a longtime member of Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, equity member and past president of Cat Cay Club since the mid-1970s, supportive member of North Dallas High School, Class of 1947, and involved member of the Hambletonian Society.

He was an extremely successful horseman in the Standardbred world. His horses, who all had the surname of Spur, won back-to-back Little Brown Jugs (Barberry Spur and Jaguar Spur) and nearly every major race in the sport. His victories and owner achievements were numerous, and he would have been embarrassed to have that long list recorded.

While his passion was the horse business, his dominance in the wholesale and group travel with Royal Travel provided the platform to maintain the horses in his early days.

Davis was always generous with his time, ideas and resources, to make sure Cat Cay kept afloat. He added the equity membership category to the club during his presidency. His role with getting Cat Cay to emerge from utter devastation after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was paramount.

He was married to his wife, Vera, for 37 years, but even in divorce remained friendly. She was visiting him a month ago. They had three children, Roy D., Vikki (Don) and Richard. Davis' devoted and dearest friend of 25 years, Celia Paleologos, along with her adult children, Coco, Alexandra and Nikki, were an integral part of his life. His ‘Richmond’ cousins, aunts and uncles, high school classmates and friends throughout his life were given equal care and attention.

Each of his loved ones would share the same sentiment: ‘We all miss you in our own way. You made us feel special. You made us crazy. You made us laugh. You are one of a kind.’

A memorial service is planned to take place in August in Cat Cay, Bahamas. Arrangements are still underway. For any additional information, email Vikki at [email protected].

Rather than donations, Mr. Davis, ‘Paco,’ ‘Slick,’ ‘Mr. D.,’ ‘Little Roy’ or ‘Demp’ or by whichever name he was referred, would rather have a toast in his honour whenever possible.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Roy Davis.

(USTA)