John Davis

By ALLISON SELK

Shaw Media correspondent

John Davis of Joliet reminds himself of Peter Pan.

He said he never grew up — he has worked with young people almost all of his life.

Davis began his career in education in Wisconsin, then Chicago, finally settling in the Joliet area. There he took a position in youth development at the University of Illinois Extension Office in Grundy County and later for Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties.

He developed programs and was always a student himself as technology changed. He said he had to teach himself first, then teach the youth — at times learning together. He strived to show them how to think outside the box.

“I was not only an educator, I had to be an entertainer because there are so many interests pulling these kids,” Davis said.

He was involved with 4-H program and traveled the three counties for shows and fairs, which consumed many of his weekends.

In 1992 when his children attended Troy schools, he was asked to help coach cross-country. Although he has never taught at the school, he has coached ever since, around 2,000 students.

“I’m now getting children of kids I coached, it’s odd, they still remember me. It’s nice to see them promoting healthy lifestyles,” Davis said.

“His patience, drive and his special one-of-a-kind humor are a winning combination both and off the field, resulting in 22 top finishes between boy and girl teams,” friend and former extension colleague Nancy Kuhajda said.

Troy schools did not have a season in 2020, but Davis did not take the year off. Instead he went to a private school in Joliet and coached cross-country at Cathedral of St. Raymond Catholic School.

He has also coached soccer and currently referees 200-300 games per season. Off the field, he hosts youth referee camps, which he said gives participants life lessons on how to be a leader, stay physically fit, focus and stick to decisions.

“As a coach, he really wants kids to excel, not only in sports, but in life,” Kuhajda said.

He has been involved with youth projects with the United Way of Will and Grundy counties, as well as Boy Scouts…where he set up merit badges, as he was not a camper.

Davis was installed Oct. 4 as the vice president of the Joliet Kiwanis Club, which he’s been involved with off and on for a total of 30 years. In addition to sitting on the Community Action Panel at LyondellBassell in Morris as a community advocate, he fundraises and supports the library system through the Friends of the Joliet Public Library.

“I appreciate knowledge,” Davis said. “At my end of life, I’m going to come back as a cat in a library. In college on Friday nights, I would go to the library and check out more books than I could read.”

Davis retired from the extension in 2019 but has yet to slow down — on the contrary, he has plans to keep up his work with youth and volunteerism with local nonprofits.

“To me its fun, it’s a fun thing to do. I think I read somewhere that service is the rent you pay for living on Earth,” Davis said. “My goal is to make three to four people’s day a little better.”