Boyce Ray Davis, who was emcee for the 1990 Northwest Arkansas Gridiron, died Jan. 5, 2017, at Fayetteville. He was 78
Davis was a resident of Lincoln, where he practiced law for 40 year and published the Lincoln Leader. He was born May 29, 1938 in Prairie Grove, the son of Oliver Ray and Beulah Faye (Tucker) Davis.
In 1972 he was an Arkansas Constitutional Convention Delegate. He was a past president and board member of the Lincoln Kiwanis Club and the Lincoln School Board. He was former Lincoln mayor, city attorney, Library Board member and choir director. Along with owning the Lincoln Leader, he published four newspapers. He also penned a weekly column “On The Wry Side.” He was in the Naval Reserve and a member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association and Arkansas Bar Association. He was instrumental in founding the Arkansas Apple Festival.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife Joan E. Davis and one granddaughter, Holly Elizabeth Green.
Survivors included his wife, Wilma Davis; three sons, Jeff Barnes of Lincoln, Scott Davis and wife Bridgett of Greenland and Berkley Davis and wife Gai of Franklin, Tennessee; one daughter, Whitney L. Green and husband Derek of Fayetteville; one sister, Owanda Davis of Roswell, New Mexico; one stepdaughter, Karen Barnes of Lincoln; three stepsons; Bobby Russell, Bo Jones, and Goy Jones, all of Lincoln; and 13 grandchildren.
Funeral service was held Jan. 9th, 2017, at Luginbuel Chapel in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Burial was in the Highland Cemetery in Farmington.