Richard Leroy Davis

Richard Leroy Davis (also known as "Roy " or "Dick ") was born on Sep. 19, 1932 in Fort St. John, BC, Canada to Margaret Davis & Isaac "Ike " Davis (a former MLB player), and died on June 7, 2023 at the age of 90.

While a young man living in Canada, he worked as a heavy equipment operator building the ALCAN Hwy. After moving to Bakersfield, he married Barbara Ann (Dickerson) Davis on Apr. 4, 1957.

"Roy" enlisted in the US Army & served in the Korean War from 1957-1959, where he pitched on a USO baseball team with a number of MLB players from around the US. He owned and operated a plastering contractor's business, Davis Plastering, in Bakersfield for over 60 years. He was a Master Mason in good standing with Libertas Lodge #466 from 1964-2021. Roy was also an amateur boxer and an avid outdoorsman, hunting moose, caribou, and grizzlies in Canada, deep sea fishing off the California coast, and salmon fishing in Alaska. He and Barbara were members of the Bakersfield Country Club, where he could be found on the golf course almost every day.

But his first love was always Triple-A fast-pitch softball. Roy played on numerous local teams for most of his life--first as a centerfielder, then as a pitcher. The highlight of his career came in 1970, when his team won the National AAA Fast-Pitch Championship in Rock Island, IL. He repeated the performance in 1990 at age 65, when he pitched for a San Luis Obispo team that won the C-League National Championship in Oklahoma City.

Richard is survived by two daughters, Darla (Davis) Brown of Bakersfield & Debra (Davis) Kinkelaar of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA; four grandchildren, Chelsea (Brown) Smith of San Antonio, TX, Zoe (Brown) McCall of Bonney Lake, WA, Isabella Kinkelaar of Hermosa Beach, CA, & Alexander Kinkelaar of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA; and a great-grandson, Micah Smith of San Antonio, TX.

Richard is also survived by siblings Charlotte (Davis) Bradford of Bakersfield and Leona (Davis) Nicholas of Ootsa Lake, BC, Canada, and by his beloved rescue poodle, Gigi.

As Richard was an active member of Bakersfield Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church (4201 Wilson Rd., Bakersfield 93309), his services will be held there on Monday, June 26 at 11:00am. Lunch will follow in the church's Social Hall.