Naperville mourns fixture in running community
There was very little John Davis couldn’t overcome and he did his best to instill that same confidence in everyone he met.
The 73-year-old Naperville resident, who completed 26 marathons — including Chicago, Boston, New York, London and Berlin — all after the age of 58, died Tuesday after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
His friends, many of whom he met through the local running circuit, said the many trails around DuPage County already are a little lonelier without him.
“Everyone knew John wore an orange cap on every run so you could always see him from a mile away. And he always had a high-five for you as you crossed paths,” said Dave Cotton, who met Davis during a workout at North Central College in 1995 and “adopted” him as the father Cotton lost as a teen. “John Davis was Superman in my eyes for all he accomplished. I’ve lost my favorite person and I know many others have, too.”
Davis earned his business degree from the University of Kansas and was a member of the university track team that won the National Championship in 1959. He later served in the Air Force during the Berlin crisis, where friends say he picked up tennis and put running on the back burner for a while.
Davis’ daughter, Kendall Born, said sometime after his 58th birthday he suffered a heart attack and required double bypass surgery.
“He knew he needed to exercise and keep his activity up as he recovered to keep from having further complications,” Born said. “So he started distance running again and never stopped.”
Friends and family members say he also never stopped encouraging others to join him.
“Dad loved to motivate people to do something fabulous, especially if it included running,” Born said. “He really tried to encourage people who had heart trouble to not be afraid to exercise. He was a living example that you could do it.”
Chicago Area Runners Association site coordinator Jim Laubsted met Davis when Davis started training with the Wheaton group.
“John quickly became a pace group leader and he did that for 10 years; just working with every member of his group to prepare them for marathons, whether it was their first or their 15th,” Laubsted said. “I’ve never met a man with more encouraging words and the experiences to back them up. Everyone on the trails is missing him today.”
When he wasn’t wearing out the bottoms of his shoes, Davis was an active member of Naperville’s St. Elizabeth Seton Church and the Naperville Communities Woodys Softball Team.
Born said Davis also was an exemplary husband and father to his wife, Kathryn, and each of the three children.
“He was a tremendous father who instilled in all of us the importance of learning and living in the moment. He was quite an example for all of us,” Born said. “Dad died the same way he lived, full of dignity and grace and with a sense of humor through the whole thing.”
Davis learned of the cancer in January and his health rapidly declined. His family knew he may not live to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary with Kathryn on May 20. But determined to celebrate such an occasion, he insisted the family celebrate on March 10.
“I think my parents really set such a great example for a strong marriage and that was nice to see as children growing up,” Born said. “That celebration really was a special time for us as a family.”
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p. m. Sunday, March 27, at Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Home and Crematory, 516 S. Washington St., Naperville. A Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday, March 28, at St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 87th Street and Lisson Road in Naperville.
Memorials in his name may be made to DuPage PADS or Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.