Obituary for John "Ken" Davy
It is with profound sadness we announce the passing of (John) Kenneth Davy who died in his 98th year. Ken was an artist, filmmaker, author and historian who achieved great success in his career at Stelco. Ken was blessed with good health until the end and was loved dearly by family and friends, a sure sign of a life well lived.
Ken was a loving husband to Jean Mildred (deceased 2002) and Iris (deceased 2022); loving father to Carol, Denise (Mike), Mark (Alison) and Drew (Jackie); proud grandpa to Emma, Katie, Ryan, Carmen, Nathan and Cynthia; loving great-grandpa to Kendra, Kaitlyn and Brian; and his unofficial daughter Sharon Kresak. Predeceased by his parents Mary and Dennis Davy.
Ken was born in the North End of Hamilton, which had a reputation for being rough and tumble and played a part in carving out the tenacious streak that Ken was so well known for. During the great depression, his father Dennis worked in a cotton mill and his mother Mary sang in the church choir.
Ken attended the Hamilton Technical Institute and, at the age of 16, he joined the Canadian Naval Reserve and later signed on for active service where he served on a corvette, the HMCS Forest Hill, and engaged in convoy duty on the high seas. He then attended the Art Students League in New York City and returned to Hamilton where he got a job as a commercial artist and later as a copy writer in an advertising agency. In 1950 he joined the Steel Company of Canada’s Advertising Department and by 1963, he was appointed Advertising Manager.
When he retired from Stelco in 1989, he was General Manager Advertising and Market Promotion. During his 40 years at Stelco, Ken and his department won many awards of excellence, including “Canada’s Advertising Man of the Year”; in 1971 he was elected President of the Association of Canadian Advertisers and in 1973 he was elected Chairman of the Committee on Market Development of the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Ken was extremely active in the community and was Chair of the Bach-Elgar Choir from 1984 to 1989; Director of the Hamilton Community Foundation from 1989 to 1991; an active member of the Probus Club of Burlington Lakeshore; President of the Optimists Club of Ancaster, and board member of the Canadian Cancer Society of Hamilton.
Ken was a prolific artist who was taught the skills by his father Dennis and their beautiful landscapes captured many scenes around Hamilton and Burlington. Ken would set up his easel in the kitchen, where it had the best light, and paint for hours. When he was 90, Ken had his first official art show and, true to form, he outsold any other artist whose paintings had graced the walls of the James Street South Bookseller and Art Gallery.
One of Ken’s most ambitious efforts was the Christmas cards he made every year from one of his paintings, a tradition that continued for more than 20 years. At one point he was sending out more than 150 cards, each one hand glued to the card.
After Ken retired, he joined the Hamilton Video/Film Makers and The Burlington Historical Society, which he was President, and where he booked speakers, wrote stories for the Burlington Post and, secured a Trillium grant to have a book and video completed that captured the history of the infamous Brant Inn.
Ken enjoyed many years of travel and visited more than 30 countries, travelling extensively around Asia and Europe, seeing Alaskan glaciers, the Eiffel Tower, the battlefields of the Netherlands and France. Ken made many videos of the trips which grew into a Stephen Spielberg-sized production in which his office was stacked with audio visual equipment. The video club honoured him with many awards for his videos on Paris, Greece, Alaska, Nova Scotia and more. He made a special video about his father which was a beautiful tribute to a man who died too soon.
When his kids were young, Ken organized a four-week trailer trip across the states and back through Canada. They saw the majestic Mount Rushmore, felt the spray of old faithful in Yellowstone Park, walked through the eerie badlands in South Dakota and took in the soaring beauty of the Rocky Mountains.
Throughout his life Ken was an accomplished amateur film maker and had a great interest in history and research. No other project spoke about his love of history as much as the book he wrote on his great-uncle Charles Thomas Kennedy, who won the Victoria Cross during the Boer War. Ken’s research took him to South Africa, onto the battlefields where Kennedy fought, into the homes of Kennedy’s relatives and the graveyard where Kennedy was buried. Ken was 12 years old when he found a faded newspaper clipping on Kennedy in his mother’s scrapbook and was so impressed that a relative had won the Victoria Cross. Ken’s twenty years of research into Kennedy culminated in his wonderful book, A Forgotten Scottish Hero.
Friend of Bill W. When asked how he would like to be remembered, Ken said, “He was a kind man who loved to laugh.” Our dad and grandpa was all of that and more. Sincerest gratitude to his wonderful health care workers Adrienne, Maria and Nikki.
Cremation has taken place. Visitation at SMITH'S FUNERAL HOME, 1167 Guelph Line (one stop light north of QEW), BURLINGTON (905-632-3333), on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 12 p.m., followed by a Funeral Service in the Chapel at 1 p.m.
Service can be viewed online through smithsfh.com
Ken was a loving husband to Jean Mildred (deceased 2002) and Iris (deceased 2022); loving father to Carol, Denise (Mike), Mark (Alison) and Drew (Jackie); proud grandpa to Emma, Katie, Ryan, Carmen, Nathan and Cynthia; loving great-grandpa to Kendra, Kaitlyn and Brian; and his unofficial daughter Sharon Kresak. Predeceased by his parents Mary and Dennis Davy.
Ken was born in the North End of Hamilton, which had a reputation for being rough and tumble and played a part in carving out the tenacious streak that Ken was so well known for. During the great depression, his father Dennis worked in a cotton mill and his mother Mary sang in the church choir.
Ken attended the Hamilton Technical Institute and, at the age of 16, he joined the Canadian Naval Reserve and later signed on for active service where he served on a corvette, the HMCS Forest Hill, and engaged in convoy duty on the high seas. He then attended the Art Students League in New York City and returned to Hamilton where he got a job as a commercial artist and later as a copy writer in an advertising agency. In 1950 he joined the Steel Company of Canada’s Advertising Department and by 1963, he was appointed Advertising Manager.
When he retired from Stelco in 1989, he was General Manager Advertising and Market Promotion. During his 40 years at Stelco, Ken and his department won many awards of excellence, including “Canada’s Advertising Man of the Year”; in 1971 he was elected President of the Association of Canadian Advertisers and in 1973 he was elected Chairman of the Committee on Market Development of the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Ken was extremely active in the community and was Chair of the Bach-Elgar Choir from 1984 to 1989; Director of the Hamilton Community Foundation from 1989 to 1991; an active member of the Probus Club of Burlington Lakeshore; President of the Optimists Club of Ancaster, and board member of the Canadian Cancer Society of Hamilton.
Ken was a prolific artist who was taught the skills by his father Dennis and their beautiful landscapes captured many scenes around Hamilton and Burlington. Ken would set up his easel in the kitchen, where it had the best light, and paint for hours. When he was 90, Ken had his first official art show and, true to form, he outsold any other artist whose paintings had graced the walls of the James Street South Bookseller and Art Gallery.
One of Ken’s most ambitious efforts was the Christmas cards he made every year from one of his paintings, a tradition that continued for more than 20 years. At one point he was sending out more than 150 cards, each one hand glued to the card.
After Ken retired, he joined the Hamilton Video/Film Makers and The Burlington Historical Society, which he was President, and where he booked speakers, wrote stories for the Burlington Post and, secured a Trillium grant to have a book and video completed that captured the history of the infamous Brant Inn.
Ken enjoyed many years of travel and visited more than 30 countries, travelling extensively around Asia and Europe, seeing Alaskan glaciers, the Eiffel Tower, the battlefields of the Netherlands and France. Ken made many videos of the trips which grew into a Stephen Spielberg-sized production in which his office was stacked with audio visual equipment. The video club honoured him with many awards for his videos on Paris, Greece, Alaska, Nova Scotia and more. He made a special video about his father which was a beautiful tribute to a man who died too soon.
When his kids were young, Ken organized a four-week trailer trip across the states and back through Canada. They saw the majestic Mount Rushmore, felt the spray of old faithful in Yellowstone Park, walked through the eerie badlands in South Dakota and took in the soaring beauty of the Rocky Mountains.
Throughout his life Ken was an accomplished amateur film maker and had a great interest in history and research. No other project spoke about his love of history as much as the book he wrote on his great-uncle Charles Thomas Kennedy, who won the Victoria Cross during the Boer War. Ken’s research took him to South Africa, onto the battlefields where Kennedy fought, into the homes of Kennedy’s relatives and the graveyard where Kennedy was buried. Ken was 12 years old when he found a faded newspaper clipping on Kennedy in his mother’s scrapbook and was so impressed that a relative had won the Victoria Cross. Ken’s twenty years of research into Kennedy culminated in his wonderful book, A Forgotten Scottish Hero.
Friend of Bill W. When asked how he would like to be remembered, Ken said, “He was a kind man who loved to laugh.” Our dad and grandpa was all of that and more. Sincerest gratitude to his wonderful health care workers Adrienne, Maria and Nikki.
Cremation has taken place. Visitation at SMITH'S FUNERAL HOME, 1167 Guelph Line (one stop light north of QEW), BURLINGTON (905-632-3333), on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 12 p.m., followed by a Funeral Service in the Chapel at 1 p.m.
Service can be viewed online through smithsfh.com