A Lingering Legacy

On August 7, after three years of dealing with serious medical issues, my dear and closest friend, Buddy Davis, went home to be with the Lord and Savior he so faithfully served.

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Illustration by Viktor Miller-Gausa

Ken Ham
Founder CEO, Answers in Genesis

I’d heard about Buddy over the years while living in Australia because we’d had a few articles in our magazine featuring this guy from America who sculpted dinosaurs and believed what the Bible taught about history. But I didn’t meet him until one of our early Answers in Genesis conferences that took place in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in 1994.

Buddy had brought his dinosaurs to the conference and displayed them on the stage. We met, and he invited me and the other two founders, Mark Looy and Mike Zovath, back to his and his wife Kay’s log cabin where he showed us more of his dinosaur models.

I shared with Buddy that we had a burden for building a creation museum and couldn’t figure out how to start it. But at that meeting, I saw his dinosaurs as the key to making the museum a reality. Buddy and Kay said they’d love to see that.

That meeting at Buddy’s log cabin was really a turning point for building what is now the Creation Museum. You see, dinosaurs have always fascinated people, especially children, but they are almost always used as a teaching tool for evolution and millions of years. Meeting Buddy and seeing his world-class dinosaur sculptures really opened our eyes and got us excited about what we could do at the Creation Museum. (Today, you can see Buddy’s exquisite dinosaur sculptures featured throughout the museum.)

While at his cabin, I saw Buddy’s guitar hanging on the wall and asked him to play. He’d given up music after pursuing a career in country music and not “making it.” But that night, when I finally convinced him to play, he sang the song, “He Makes Dreams Out of Nothing.” After hearing the song, I told him that I wanted him to sing it when we opened the Creation Museum—and 13 years later, in 2007, he performed that song during our grand opening.

After the opening of the museum, Buddy became even more involved with the ministry. He composed many songs based on my talks, including one on godly men (inspired by my family and parenting talk), one on a literal six-day creation (based on my relevance of Genesis talk), one on the truth of only one race (pulled from my One Race, One Blood presentation), a song about the 7 C’s of History (drawn from our museum exhibits), and even a funny song about cats (after I spoke about how much I dislike cats).

But his signature song is “Billions of Dead Things,” a song about the fossils that were laid down during Noah’s flood. Adults and kids love his songs and Buddy himself—he was so kind, friendly, and “homely” (the Aussie way of saying comfortable or down-to-earth).

But Buddy was more than “just” a major inspiration for the Creation Museum as a dinosaur sculptor, a talented singer-songwriter, or a ministry partner—Buddy became one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. He and I were like brothers. I’m not as close to most people as I was to Buddy. It is really sad to see him leave this earth, but he’s left an incredible legacy, and it will go on and on.

His legacy will continue to impact children who watch his Amazing Adventures programs and his Out and About show on Answers TV. In all his programs, he shares biblical truth and the gospel. I know that will continue to impact children.

His musical legacy will also continue. Our resident artists, TrueSong, are taking the words and music from many of his original songs, changing them to a slightly different style, and will be performing them during their daily concerts.

Over the years, Buddy and I traveled the world, giving our Dinosaurs, Genesis, and the Gospel program (later renamed Dinosaurs and More, which you can find on Answers TV) to children and families. During this one-and-a-half-hour program, I would do biblical worldview and creation teaching and Buddy would sing songs and perform a few illusions. We’d banter back and forth, joke around, and poke fun at each other. Kids loved it.

Well, the last time we gave that program was in the Answers Center at the Ark Encounter just a few weeks before the stroke that began his health issues three years ago. After we finished the program, as he was preparing to leave, Buddy turned to me and said something like, “Ken, I just want to tell you, I can’t say enough, how much being part of this ministry has meant to me. I can’t explain enough how much this ministry has done for me. It’s been so phenomenal for me to be involved with it. It’s been my life. I just can’t thank you enough for what this has meant to me.”

As he said that, I had this sinking feeling that it almost sounded like a goodbye. I just wonder if the Lord prompted him to say that, because not long after that he had a stroke and could no longer speak or communicate. It was as if the Lord had said, “Your time of active ministry has ended, but it will continue through Answers in Genesis and the legacy you’ve left.”

There comes a time when we finish our work on earth and God calls each of us home. This doesn’t make sense from an earthly perspective. I just think of how much more ministry Buddy and I could have done together. But God is in control, and Buddy had fulfilled the mission God called him to. And now he is totally healed and worshipping the Lord in his heavenly home. What a comfort that truth is!

Please remember Kay, Buddy’s dear and incredibly devoted wife of 51 years, in your prayers. Kay is the unseen partner behind everything Buddy did. His legacy is her legacy too, a legacy of faithfulness left by a couple who loved and served Jesus (and each other) together, to the very end.

What a glorious hope we have in Jesus. An anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast.

“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:3–5)