The end of an era: ASA Computers closing Feb. 29
By Audrey Peterman
     After 25 years as the most solid resource for computers and as rare Black leaders in the technology sector, Rocky and Marilyn Davis will close their beloved ASA Computers store and migrate their business online. The youthful couple, happily married for 50 years (at least 25 of which theyâve also worked together) plan to spend more time relaxing and pursuing their personal interests.
The Davisesâ legacy will live on into infinity based upon the caliber of work theyâve done and generations of young people theyâve trained. I still remember Rocky quoted in the Westside Gazette in the early 1990s: âComputers are just an appliance, like a washing machine. You donât have to be intimidated by it.â
I asked Rocky and Marilyn how theyâre feeling a week away from closing.
âI have mixed feelings,â said Rocky. âYouâve spent all these years to build something youâre proud of. Youâre serving the community. Through the years weâve trained numerous young black folk in technology. You worry about whoâs going to do that in an unbiased way.â
âItâs almost like your baby,â said Marilyn. âYou nurture it from the beginning, so itâs bittersweet.â
What has the experience been like? I asked. Â âThere wasnât anybody to teach us,â Rocky laughs. âWe learned it from the ground up. We took a different route. Many Black people that start businesses look for state, federal and local grants program to support them. Thereâs nothing wrong with that. But when the programs run out, so does the business. We put up our shingle and said this one thing is what we do â computers. We accumulated over 8,000 customers over 25 years.â
What have you learned that youâd like to share? I said.
âWhen we were growing up, our parents told us to get a good education so we could get a good job. Part of that was right. Itâs important to get a good education, but find something you love to do. Because if you have to work for the rest of your life it better be something you enjoy. Fortunately, my wife loves book-keeping, loves numbers. Me? Iâm a gadget freak, so I get to come in and play with all the toys. We havenât âworkedâ a day in 25 years.â
What would you say is your legacy?
âThe best legacy is to see one of our original trainees and employees now running for the state legislature; another has a degree works for a company that does war simulation. At one time, many of the technicians hired by CompUSA had interned with us so they could validate their credentials. We came, we saw and we did all we could do.â
âTheyâve been so wonderful, âoffered Jeremy Lai-Fang, approaching the end of a three-month internship with ASA through Career Source. âIâm disappointed that they wonât be here for other young people, but Iâll never forget the lessons they taught me about computers and about life. They deserve it.â
So really, what are you going to do next, Rocky?
âSleep late. Go to the beach a lot more. Read. Get up and exercise. Remember Iâve been working since I was 15, right out of high school, in a grocery store. Then into the military, then you have a family so Iâve been working more than 50 years straight. I think Iâll go back to playing piano.â
âIâm looking forward to more relaxation, not being so much in the rat race,â says Marilyn. âI plan to keep serving on the City of Lauderdale Lakesâ Economic Development Advisory Board. Iâm secretary of our homeownersâ association and treasurer of my church, Harris Chapel United Methodist, so Iâm not really retiring.â
While serving quietly and consistently as leaders in the Broward County community, the Davises have raised two sons and now have seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
I hope you take the opportunity to go by and see Rocky and Marilyn one last time at 4031 N.W. 34 St. in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. before Tuesday. Then the office closes and the Davises migrate to asaonsite.com.