Raymond B. Davidson, 92, died at Asbury Park in Newton on May 6, 2012.

He was born September 28, 1919, in Walnut to James E. and Mary Etta Boyd Davidson. While he was growing up, the family lived on several farms in southeast Kansas and near Clinton, Okla.

He joined the U.S. Army in 1942. He served as an ammunition corporal for 155 Howitzer of the 631st Field Artillery Battalion, participating in five major campaigns in Sicily and Italy. At the war’s end, he took a bullet in the left ankle and received a medical discharge Dec. 22, 1945, at Camp Carson, Colo.

He rode for the Kimball Brothers Ranch out of Virgil for several months in 1946 before taking a job as a salesman in a shoe store in Iola.

He married Eleanor Grimwood on Jan. 26, 1947, at her parents’ home in Cedar Point. They lived in Iola until January 1951, when they moved to a ranch northeast of Florence, where they lived for the next 55 years.

He was a member of Youngtown United Methodist Church from 1957 until the church closed in 2001. He sang tenor in the Youngtown Men’s Quartet for 44 years. He also taught Sunday school.

In the early 1980s he began public performances of cowboy poetry, singing, and playing guitar and harmonica. He performed with his son, Jeff, and recorded two CDs with him.

He is survived by his wife, Eleanor of Asbury Park, Newton; two sons, Steve of Newton and Jeff of Eureka; ; one brother, Joe of Denver; four grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, John, Fred, and Bert; and three sisters: Ruby Reid, Florence Arb, and Jocie Pearl.

A private interment will be held at Hillcrest Cemetery in Florence. A public memorial service will be announced at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Florence Public Library in care of Zeiner Funeral Home, 205 Elm, Marion, KS 66861.