John Francis Davis, 72, died at home on October 27, 2015 of natural causes. He was born April 19, 1943 to Francis H. & Virginia Estell Davis in Pampa, Texas, where his father was stationed in the Air Force. His brother, Gene Davis, was born a few years later and in 1950 the family moved to Stafford, OR where the brothers grew up and helped run the family farm.

John graduated from grade school at St. John's in Oregon City and from Jesuit High School in 1961, where he lettered in baseball and basketball. He started college at the University of Portland where he met his first wife, Sue O'Neil, and they married in 1965. Daughter Debra was born in 1967 and the family lived in NE Portland until 1970.

Avid water skiers, John & Sue purchased Willamette riverfront property in 1969 and built the family home in 1970 with help from many family and friends wielding hammers and wrenches. Their boat, 'Old Yellar,' purchased in 1971, clocked countless hours at many dock and water skiing parties throughout the years. A cabin at ZigZag was John's building project in the early 70s, and snow skiing at Mt. Hood became a regular wintertime activity.

Graduating from PSU in 1969, John began teaching at Waluga Jr. High in Lake Oswego, and then taught Math at Lake Oswego High School until 1978. At LOHS he coached both the men's & women's ski teams, and also helped with the chain gang at home football games.

Divorced in 1976, John returned to PSU in 1978 for a civil engineering degree and then began work at Canonie Pacific Engineering. He was Project Manager for the Waterfront Park Development and other area projects until Canonie relocated to Stockton, CA. John then returned to PSU to complete his MBA and resumed his teaching career in Math at Grant High School. In 1993 he obtained his real estate license, and began a career with Coldwell/Banker Barbara Sue Seal. He achieved Principal Broker status in 2006, and was still actively working in real estate when he died. He also served as a Board Member of the Aurora Colony Historical Society.

John married Marilyn Lulay in 2004, and they enjoyed patio cruising, taking care of their 5 dogs, gardening and entertaining friends. Family gatherings and grandchildren's activities were important to John, and he took great pleasure in attending each music, theater and sporting event of his grandchildren.

John's other interests included tennis, mountain climbing (Mt. Hood), whitewater rafting, piloting out of Aurora airport (VFR), running (Portland Marathon), and Portland Trail Blazers basketball games. He also loved Duck football, Stanford football, Chip Kelly/Philadelphia Eagles, and anyone who beat the Lakers!

John is survived by his wife Marilyn, daughter Debra Davis, MD, son-in-law Jon Strand, PsyD, grandchildren Emily & Ryan Strand, and brother Gene Davis & family.

John's memorial celebration mass will be Friday, November 6 at 11:00am at St. Anthony Church in Tigard. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in his memory to either St. Anthony School or Jesuit High School.