Edwin Joseph Davis, Jr.

Ed (or as he was affectionately known to friends and family as ‘Dedo’) graduated in 1963 from Naperville Community High School where he lettered in football, baseball and basketball. After choosing to play football at the University of Alabama, Ed proved that even he couldn’t handle Coach Bear Bryant and chose to transfer to SMU where he played football for four years. On top of the demands of playing college football, Ed played baseball and intramural basketball where he also coached the team. He earned a BBA in Quantitative Analysis in 1968 from SMU and an MBA from Western Illinois University in 1971. Ed was also a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

Following college, Ed proudly served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. While stationed at Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington, he met Marilyn Sand. After dating for 10 months, they married.

After graduation, Dedo worked in the banking industry the remainder of his career. He rose to the level of Senior Vice President and managed the Far East Division for six years from Tokyo, Japan. Dedo & Marilyn’s two children, Mike & Kristi, were born in Tokyo.

Ed will best be remembered for his love of coaching kids’ sports. He spent virtually all of his free time coaching baseball, basketball, football and other sports where he positively impacted the lives of hundreds of boys. From 1985 to 1998, one could rarely drive past Scotland Yard baseball field without seeing Ed’s van parked there and his son Mike hauling baseball gear to and from the batting cage. When Dedo wasn’t coaching baseball, he could be found nervously pacing the sidelines of Kristi’s soccer games with his good luck pennies in his pocket. He was her biggest fan.

He is survived by his wife Marilyn, his son Michael Joseph Davis and wife Elise, his daughter Kristi Davis Johnson and husband Ryan, and six grandchildren: Elle, Savannah, Beau, Cole, Luke and Grace. He is also survived by his sister Penny Davis Schreck and husband Dave and his two nieces, Allison Petro and Katie Howell.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association.