Former Toledo hotelier was an avid marathoner

5/26/2005

DENVER - Roi C. Davis, Jr., 73, who was manager of the former Park Lane Hotel in Toledo and moved west in 1969 for a career in commercial real estate, died Friday in his home here of an apparent heart attack.

He was the third generation affiliated with the Sam Davis Co., a firm founded by his grandfather in 1904.

Mr. Davis was a former president of Greater Toledo Hotel & Motel Association. His father was president and general manager of the Park Lane, and Mr. Davis became assistant manager in 1956, after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and service in the Army Corps of Engineers. He joined the executive staff of the then-new Holiday Inn in Perrysburg Township in 1968.

Mr. Davis was credited in Denver with helping revive the Buckhorn Exchange, an Old West restaurant that features a gun collection, mounted animal heads, and stuffed wildlife.

Formerly of West Toledo, Mr. Davis was a devoted runner and took part in 15 New York City Marathons.

He was a former president of the Toledo Ski Club.

Surviving are his wife, Ruth, whom he married Oct. 23, 1956; sons, Mark, Jud, and Rob Davis; brother Guy Davis, and a granddaughter.

Services were Tuesday in Temple Emanuel, Denver, of which he was a member..

The family suggests tributes to Foresight Ski Guides of Denver or a charity of the donor's choice.