Logan Davis loved his momma and his family. He loved his friends. He loved Jesus. Roughly 1,000 people attended his funeral Mass Wednesday at Steele Stadium, where he was honored and remembered for his kindness, faith and love.
Following the funeral, his close group of friends sat down with Owensboro Times for an emotional interview to reflect on the impact the 18-year-old had on their lives, as well as how he was a shining light in the world for everyone to look up to.
Davis died Saturday after a single-vehicle accident late the previous night. He is survived by his mother Karla and sister Haley of Owensboro, his father Richie of Muhlenburg County, and several other extended family members.
Davis would have been a senior at Owensboro Catholic High School, where he was a member of the OCHS football team as well as the K.Y.A., K.U.N.A., and the S.C.R.U.B.S. clubs.
At the funeral, it was easy to see how important Davis was to so many people. Family and friends spread throughout the bleachers as well as a few hundred chairs that lined the football field, distancing as much as possible for the funeral.
Fr. Jason McClure helped officiate, delivering a homily that highlighted how Davis lived his faith daily in all walks of life.
“Logan would be the first one to tell you he’s not perfect, in sincere humility,” McClure said. “He would also be the first to tell you that he depended so much on Jesus Christ. He was unashamed of his faith. He just lived his faith in everyday acts of kindness.”
Interview with “The Bros”
Davis had an incredibly tight-knit group of roughly a dozen friends known as “The Bros,” which included four girls. They are Aaron Buckman, Joseph Fusco, Ethan Higdon, Cort Hobelmann, Hadley Latham, Clayton Lewis, Leanne Lyon, Nolan Mayfield, Carter McCain, Drake Steele, Sailor Stich, Cody Stelmach, Michael Sullivan and Maddie Ward.
They sat down for a joint interview that is reflected, in part, below.
ON FAITH
Naturally, the interview started with Davis’ faith.
LEWIS: Logan was the theologian of the group. If we had any questions about faith, we always went to Logan.
FUSCO: He was always so happy to talk about it. He was so open about it. He wanted us to trust in our faith, too. He’s really involved in Catholic Christian youth activities. As a high schooler the faith kind of fades, but with Logan it never really faded. He’s able to bring that out of everyone else. Anytime we would be driving around in our cars and we would see an ambulance, he would start praying. He’s always bless his meal.
LEWIS: In my experience with Logan any time we would be somewhere where there would be someone who was not a Christian … like I was at KYA with him and there were some Muslims there. Logan was having a civil conversation with them because they did not have a lot of experience with Catholics and he didn’t have much experience with them, and he was explaining our faith to them. I thought that was really cool.
WARD: I think in high school people can be afraid to show their faith, but for Logan, we always looked up to him because he wasn’t afraid.
ON FAMILY
During the funeral, McClure said that Davis texted his mom every morning to say he loved her. Asked how important family was to Davis, all his friends responded at once with basically the same answer.
EVERYONE: Family was important. He loved his momma.
LEWIS: Anything that had to do with his family, he was there. He was so proud of his family.
Stelmach, Davis’ cousin, wasn’t at the group interview but later sent OT a message.
STELMACH: Logan was my cousin, but I didn’t just see him as my cousin. He is my brother. We had a relationship like no other, from our random car rides going nowhere to playing PlayStation till 1 a.m. and coming to each other about our problems and the fun stuff we’ve done recently. Logan shaped me into the man I am today. My cousin, my best friend, and my brother changed me and the world.
ON FRIENDS
Davis was the glue of the group. He gave everyone bear hugs. He got involved when things got heated, helping talk things out and reminding everyone they are basically brothers and sisters.
BUCKMAN: Anytime a ‘bro’ would stray too far, we would kind of have an intervention with them and we would all talk and come back closer than ever.
LYON: He would always know when you were having a bad day. He would ask what’s going on and he would be able to pull it out of you. He was always so caring and worried about us.
Davis was also always there for his friends, no matter what. Though Davis and many of his friends played football, Fusco was on the soccer team. Davis was at every home game cheering his friend on no matter what.
FUSCO: The support he would give to his friends was unreal. A lot of our friends play football, but I play soccer. They’d call my name and he’d start yelling. It was awesome. To be able to have him be supportive of me but to also bring other friends to support me, it made me really good about myself.
The stories went on and on about how selfless Davis was. He waited on the same customer with a smile every Sunday morning at work. He had friends pitch in money to pay for an elderly woman’s meal when he saw she was sitting alone. He went out of his way to thank veterans for their service.
FUSCO: He liked the social aspect of being with people and knowing how to help people. He was the most selfless person I have ever met in my life. He could be sitting down and when a girl walks in the room he’d give up a chair.
LEWIS: If he had already given up his chair and there was another girl in the room, he would be like, “hey Joe give up your chair.” He would always remind you of that.
ON THE ACCIDENT AND FUNERAL
Davis passed away at Owensboro Regional Health Hospital from injuries after the vehicle he was driving went off the road and struck a tree.
Buckman and Mayfield were also in the vehicle. Buckman suffered multiple facial injuries and a concussion, while Mayfield suffered minor injuries. Everyone said they were in shock and disbelief of what happened.
BUCKMAN: I got a really bad concussion so I don’t remember anything from that day at all. I remember I was at the hospital. I saw myself and I was hoping I took the majority of the blast. My mom came up to me and said “Logan’s gone” and I bawled my eyes out. I just couldn’t believe it.
Even after the funeral, they said it was still almost unreal. But, they said the outpouring of support only proves Davis was a positive influence on the world.
FUSCO: Those people weren’t there for pity, those people were there because they either knew Logan or knew of Logan, and they had to be there because of the person he was. He’s very social. I can’t think of a single person he wouldn’t talk to.
LYON: Obviously you’re sad, but it made me happy he impacted that many people. All of Owensboro was affected by it. There are people from all over who came in.
LEWIS: If there wasn’t a pandemic going on, you could expect three times as many people as what showed up. It was insane how many people were there and how many people he touched.
ON FAITH, AGAIN
Davis was not afraid of dying. The groups said he even told them was ready to die on multiple occasions, meaning he was confident that he was living a faithful life and would reach his ultimate goal of making it to Heaven.
From a journal of Logan Davis, shared during the funeral: “My God, my God, I love you. I love you. There is no words I can use to express my wanting to be with you in heaven, the goal and our destiny. I’m ready whenever you call my spirit home, its yours. I ask that when you call me home that everyone will know that we love them. Until this moment I’ll keep praying. I’ll keep loving you even it’s tomorrow or a thousand years.”
LEWIS: Out of this group, he was the closest one to God. If any one of us was ready to go to Heaven, it was him. He’s just up there rejoicing. It warms my heart knowing he’s up there. I said after today, the sadness would be over and we can live for Logan after today.
BUCKMAN: It was always crazy because he would say ‘I’m ready to die. I’ll be fine if I die tomorrow.’
STICH: For him to write that in his journal … If you told any of us we were going to die tomorrow we wouldn’t be ready. The fact that he said he was just speaks volumes about who he was and that he knew that he did what he needed to do here.
BUCKMAN: I would tell him he was too young and couldn’t think like that, but he said he was fine and that he had things set straight.
LEWIS: He always told us he was going to be the first one to die out of this group.
BUCKMAN: He was not afraid of death, whatsoever.
LEWIS: He was not afraid to show his faith in public, either.
WARD: I think that’s what made it easier for us, knowing that he’s happy and this is what he wanted.
ON LIVING IN HIS HONOR
The group never stayed sad for long during the interview because there were too many happy memories to share. They also said that while Davis was the glue that kept them all together, they will continue to stick with one another because he is still present in their hearts. As they go forward, the group vowed to honor Davis by modeling the life he lived.
BUCKMAN: Logan defined our group. We would probably not be here in this group without him. This group would not have lasted this long without Logan.
FUSCO: We understand that for Logan, the worst thing we could do is not stick together. After so many years of being with us, the last thing he wants is for us not to be together.
BUCKMAN: While these days have been extremely sad, we’re able to stay happy because of the memories we have with him. We can’t think of a bad memory.
LEWIS: This world is a better place because of Logan Davis, and his legacy will live on.
