John O. Davis

John Owen Davis was born, July 22, 1921, to John F. Davis and Florence Hodge Davis. He was raised on Collingwood Ave. in the Old West End. He attended Toledo public Schools and was active in the YMCA. During his youth he attended Camp Storer for 5 years and was later on the camp board for 20 years, being chairman of the board in 1953. He graduated from The Taft School of Watertown, CT. In 1941, he entered the University of North Carolina where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Booker. John was active in sports at UNC, playing varsity football and was a varsity wrestler. He was elected to university honorary groups, The Society of the Grail and the Golden Fleece. He was also president of the university Club. At the beginning of WWII, 1942, he enlisted in the US Marine Corp V12 Program as a PFC and was stationed at the university in Chapel Hill, NC. He later went to officers training school in Quantico, VA where he graduated as a second lieutenant. He served with the Sixth Div 4th Marines on Guam and the initial invasion of Yokosuka, Japan. After his return in 1946, he then moved to his Front Street home in Perrysburg. While at the University, John married his co-ed sweetheart, Betty Booker, in Atlanta, GA on June 4, 1953. John and Betty were married 54 years until Betty’s death on December, 2, 2000. They raised six children, John Booker Davis (1945-1957), Victoria Davis Pfohl, Kathryn Davis Glaenzer (1952 – 1987), Elizabeth Davis Hepker, James Hodge Davis and Margaret Davis Marinaro. He had 7 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. John began his business career as Vice President and General Manager of the Bob Eddy Buick Co. of Toledo. He later started his own commercial and industrial real estate agency under the name of John O. Davis, Inc.. During his business career, John served as a member of the Board of Directors on a number of private corporations, some of which he had and investment interest. While operating his real estate agency, he was an active board member of the Toledo Chamber of Commerce, The Toledo Rotary Club, The National Industrial Zoning Committee as well as serving 3 terms on the Advisory Council of the Small Business Administration. He also served 10 years as chairman of the Perrysburg Township Zoning Commission. With his wife Betty, he founded and chaired the Cystic Fibrosis Chapter of Toledo. He was a chairman of the Wood County Park Commission and later became interested in the Black Swamp Conservancy which led him to donate an easement of his farm. For more than 40 years he raised horses on his property. During five years of that time, he played Polo with the Springbrook Polo Club and was a member of the US Polo Association. John also held memberships in the Toledo Club, The Toledo Country Club, Belmont Country Club, Carranor Hunt and Polo Club, The Hermits Club, St. Pauls’ Episcopal Church, Maumee and St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Perrysburg. While his real estate firm was successful, John acquired commercial properties of his own and thus sold his real estate brokerage to several of his employees. He continued to acquire properties especially for growing pine timber and became involved in raising forest products. This company is known as Crest Land Company. His forest lands are situated in Georgia, Louisiana, and Montana. Some of this land will not be harvested until 50 years from now. John and Betty, often with their children, traveled much of the US and foreign countries. They especially enjoyed adventure trips such as rafting the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, the Salmon River of No Return in Idaho, several rivers in New Zealand, the Blackfoot, Flathead and Clarkfork rivers of Montana and the Yukon River in the Yukon Territory. Betty and John also enjoyed adventurous pack trips on horses through parts of Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. They took camel trips through parts of the Sahara Desert in Egypt, and visited the African countries of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. They traveled through northern Thailand by elephant to the northern border of Burma. They saw a number of Pacific Islands and had several expeditions through a great deal of China and Mongolia. They took a 7 day train trip from Mongolia to Moscow across the northern part of Siberia. In 1995, John went on a Russian expedition on a nuclear-powered ship to the North Pole. He also went on several fishing trips to Alaska, Hudson Bay and Yukon. John is survived by his loving children, Victoria Davis Pfohl (George), Elizabeth Davis Hepker, James H. Davis, and Margaret Davis Marinaro (Louis); son-in-laws, Thomas A. Glaenzer, Charles E. Hepker: seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was also preceded in death by a sister, Mary Grace Prudden. A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 P.M. on, Saturday, April 23, 2016, at John’s Rivercrest Farm home, 28510 W. River Rd., Perrysburg, OH 43551. Memorials may be made in the form of contributions to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Northwestern Ohio, 1 Stranahan Square, Toledo, OH 43604 or to the YMCA Storer Camps Memorial Gifts, 1500 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43604. Arrangements are being handled by Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, Perrysburg, OH (419-874-3133). “May Your Trail Be An Easy One”