John R. Davis 95, of Bloomington, Indiana, died Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, at a nursing home after an extended stay in the Indianapolis VA Hospital. John was born Oct. 29, 1927, in Livermore, Kentucky, to parents George and Bertha (Richardson) Davis. He is preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn Hume (Mead) Davis; his ex-wife, Maxine (Hudson) Davis; brothers, Buddy and Wimpy Davis; sisters, Lucy McCoy, Bertha “Sis” Dickerson, Juanita Kassinger, Nadine Baldwin, Martine Smith, and Judy Kassinger; and eldest daughter, Bonita Davis.
Survivors include a son, Timothy Davis of Bloomington; two daughters, Kimberly Davis of Bellingham, Washington and Christy Davis of Silverton, Oregon; and a sister, Joyce Willis of Livermore . Up until his hospitalization, a quartet of Evelyn’s daughters cared for him so he could remain in his home: Beth Dittrich, Lisa Holmes, Tina Arbuckle, and Vicki Dawson.
John enjoyed lake fishing, ice fishing, deer hunting, antique collecting and restoring, dancing, roller skating, and playing multiple instruments as long as they were loud. He was a wood carver and loved to cook, wave at passersby from his porch, shop for clothes (rattle racks), blurt out songs, absorb and question every bit of knowledge that interested him, and yell and holler.
John worked as a cement finisher all his life, first in Kentucky and then in Bloomington, where he moved in the early ‘60s to work on a booming construction phase of IU and the downtown courthouse area. He was inducted in 1950 to U.S. Army Infantry Company A, 114th Engineer Combat Battalion, Camp McCoy, WI. He served as a corporal during the Korean War and was transferred to Kentucky Army Reserve in 1952 until honorably discharged in 1956. Wounded in action near Hagil-song-ni Korea in 1951, John was awarded the Purple Heart.
Funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. Saturday November 4, 2023 at Muster Funeral Homes, Livermore Chapel. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Livermore with Military Honors conducted by the McLean County Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post #5415. Friends may visit with John’s family from 12:00 P.M. (noon) until 3:00 P.M. Saturday at Musters in Livermore.
The John R. Davis family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of your continuous appreciation and support for the Veterans Administration and the many veterans who serve our country.
John’s services will be streamed live on musterfuneralhomes.com at 3:00 P.M. Saturday.
Share your memories and photos of John at musterfuneralhomes.com.