Obituary of Charles R. Bickford

Charles Roy Bickford, January 31, 1943, to August 22, 2023, died suddenly after a long illness.  Roy was known locally in Lawrenceburg KY as a partner in Witch Trot Farms, with his wife Kricket Smith-Gary. He graduated from Paul Smith’s College in New York, as a forester. He worked for Bartlet Tree Company in New Hampshire until joining Kricket in 1980 building Remarkable Country Homes, their brand of super-insulated timber frame homes.  The company built about 350 homes in multiple states before the recession and fabricated the panels and frames in their factory in Hill, NH.  Roy and Kricket continued to build 63 of them together during the recession in the North Country. He moved from Holderness, NH to KY in 1997 to his wife’s farm and they built the 4^th largest equine medical rescue in the U.S. and a small herd of “clean cows” which helped with the rescue, along with some very successful breeding of Saddlebred and Arabian horses.

Roy is preceded in death by his parents, Edna Burrows Bickford, and Charles Roy Bickford Sr.; his first wife, Jill Bickford.  

He is survived by his wife, Kricket Smith-Gary; three children, Ty Bickford (Denae), Shannon Zelsnack (John), and Trecia McEvoy (Jeff); grandchildren, Katie, Johnny, Sara, Alexis, Zachary, Ian, Brooke, and Blake; and great grandchildren, Jillian, Abby, Caroline, Liam and Hayden.

Cremation was chosen and his ashes will cover the grave of his heart horse, the grand white Shire, Morgan Le Fay.  

In memory of this kind and dedicated man please hug your horse, pony, donkey, goat, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, birds, and chickens if possible or go help your local farmer build fences…that’s all he would have wanted.

Saffell House Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements.