Bill Davenport Jr., Ex-Owner Of Northport Animal Farm, Dies At 83

NORTHPORT, NY — Bill Davenport Jr., the former owner of Lewis Oliver Farm Sanctuary in Northport, has died. He was 83.

Davenport, of Greenlawn, died Monday at Apex Rehabillitation and Nursing Home in Melville, his family told Patch on Wednesday. He had been battling diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Laura Jean Michta, 57, the second of Davenport's three children, called her father a "social butterfly," who ran a successful business.

"He was very friendly with the neighbors," she said. " He owned a country store and they would come in buy milk products and everything."

Davenport talked to "every single person who walked on that property," she added.

Davenport was born March 1, 1936. He is survived by his daughter and two sons, Billy Davenport, 59, and Kenny Davenport, 53, as well as two grandchilden and two great-grandchildren.

Bill Davenport will be laid out Saturday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Nolan & Taylor-Howe Funeral Home in Northport, Michta said. Services are also planned from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Plans are for his body to be cremated Monday.

The animal sanctuary wrote Davenport was a "wonderful man" known and loved by many in the community and beyond. He was the "very reason" that the Lewis Oliver Farm Sanctuary remains in existence, the farm wrote.

"Everyone who knew Bill will remember his friendly demeanor, infectious laugh, his kind heart, his love for the community, and his passion for the farm and in seeing to it that it would remain in our community as a favorite place to visit for generations of families and friends to come," the farm said.

Davenport was a key figure in getting a petition to the Town of Huntington and Suffolk County to save the farm from developers when he reluctantly was forced to put the property on the market.

"Through his hard work, dedication, and most of all through his love for the farm and for the community, Bill has left us all - both humans and the animals- with the most precious gift that is the Lewis Oliver Farm Sanctuary," the farm wrote.

Billy Davenport, the eldest son, described his father as "workaholic" who put his heart and soul into the milk business and the farm.

"He worked his whole life," said Billy Davenport. "He didn't like taking vacations."

Before the Lewis Oliver farm was an animal sanctuary, the family ran a business selling milk to people in the community. As a child, Billy Davenport delivered milk door-to-door.

His father and mother retired in 2000.