Dale LeRoy Davis

Funeral services for Dale LeRoy Davis Sr., an 81-year-old Buffalo resident who passed away suddenly at his home in Buffalo, will be held December 3rd at 10:00 a.m. at Harness Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will be in Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, South Dakota.

Dale LeRoy Davis was born on March 17, 1944, in Miller, South Dakota, to Arnold and Lorraine Davis. Arnold was a heavy equipment operator on road construction crews, so the family traveled extensively following jobs throughout Eastern Montana, North and South Dakota. The family eventually settled down and Dale attended high school in Buffalo, South Dakota. While in high school, Dale played football and participated in rodeo bull riding.

After high school, he worked as a ranch hand and continued to rodeo. Dale was drafted into the Army in late 1965, where he served in Korea as a communications radio mechanic. Shortly after returning from Korea in May 1967, he went to work for Rodeo Stock Contractor Harry Knight. Dale had very fond memories of his time with Harry Knight, which he spoke of often, including the embarrassing story of getting bucked off the pickup horse at the Cheyenne Frontier Days.

He married Patricia Evans on August 22, 1970, in Glendive, Montana. For the next several years, he worked as a ranch hand and in the construction industry. In 1983, the family moved to Three Forks, Montana, where Dale drove logging trucks until the industry dried up. Dale then switched to over-the-road trucking and drove for Davis Transport of Buffalo, Wyoming.

Dale and Patricia divorced in 1988, at which point he moved down to Buffalo. He continued driving for Davis Transport for the next decade and won the “Driver of The Year” award for that company many times. Over the course of his career, he drove over one million miles throughout all the lower 48 states and every province in Canada. Dale ended his professional career working as a heavy equipment operator on road construction crews, just like his father had done.

He was an avid bowler for much of his life, competing in the National Championships numerous times in both Singles and Doubles. The true love of his life, though, was the sport of rodeo. He remained a fan to the very end.

Dale is survived by two sons, Dale Davis Jr. and his wife Rachel of Bozeman, Montana, and Lance Davis and his wife Julie of Willow Creek, Montana; four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, and one sister.