On the evening of May 20, 2019, at the age of 78, Joe Ray Davis saddled up and rode off to where the green grass grows lush and the water runs clear and cool.

Welcome to Heaven Cowboy, your entry fees are paid.

Joe Ray was born on September 28, 1940, in Malad, Idaho.  He was the second son to Dale and Afton Davis.  He grew up in St. John and spent his childhood working on the ranch and loved riding horses.  Joe Ray’s love for ranching would stay with him throughout his entire life.

Joe Ray graduated from Malad High School in 1958.  After graduation Joe Ray attended and graduated from the Diesel Mechanic program at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.  Joe Ray then went on to work work at Thiokol in Promontory, Utah.

In 1962 Joe Ray was drafted into the United States Army.  He was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas.  This is where he would meet the love of his life, Donna.

Joe Ray and Donna were married on April 16, 1965, in Manhattan, Kansas.  For their honeymoon they made the trip back to Idaho for a wedding reception held in their honor at the St. John church.  The newlyweds then made their way back to Kansas.  They would then reside there until Joe Ray was honorably discharged from the United States Army.  They then made their home in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where Joe Ray worked as a Diesel Mechanic at Arnold Machinery and was later made shop foreman.

Joe Ray and Donna had 3 children, Sue Lynn, Shawn and Dale.  During the summer of 1977, Joe Ray and Donna moved their family back to Malad so that Joe Ray could help run the family ranch with his dad.  Later, on October 23, 1981, Joe Ray, Donna and their children were sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan LDS Temple in Logan, Utah.  After his father’s death,Joe Ray would continue to run the family ranch along with his siblings.

Joe Ray was preceded in death by his mother, Afton Davis, his father, Dale Davis, his beloved wife, Donna Davis and his daughter-in-law, DanNel Davis.

Joe Ray is survived by his children, Sue Lynn (Roger) Nicholas, Shawn (Jennifer) Davis and Dale Davis (Russ Vollmer), his brothers Terrell (Beverly) Davis and Parley (Pat) Davis and his sister Lanette (Kent) Grange, 13 grandchildren and 6 great-grand children.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 29 at 12 noon in the Horsley Funeral Home, 132 W. 300 N.  Friends may visit with the family at the funeral home Tuesday evening from 7-8 p.m. and Wednesday from 10:30-11:45 a.m.  Burial will follow in the Malad City Cemetery where military honors will be accorded.