Jon Melvin Davis

Jon Melvin Davis was born in Wahoo, NE on August 29th in 1956. The family soon moved to Fremont, NE and then on to South Sioux City, NE where he attended grade school and high school. He went on to attend one year at Wayne State College in Wayne, NE before setting out on his life’s journey.

Jon was a talented athlete, excelling in swimming as a youngster and track and field as a high jumper during high school. 

Jon had many different careers during his working life, participating in a number of sales and distribution management positions, but it was during his high school years that Jon found his true and lasting vocation – making music. He began playing in bands as a teen and continued to hone and refine his skills over the decades of his life. Jon was an outstanding drummer who could play with power, nuance and style. He was also a terrific singer and a dynamic performer. His music took him across most of the United States. He became a prominent musician in the Lincoln, NE area and played in many of the top bands there. 

Jon was elected to the Nebraska Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as a founding member of the ‘Footloose’ band (later ‘The Loose’).  Jon was a great band mate with a quick smile, a quick wit and an inner flame that warmed everyone that met him.

Jon was a beloved member of his family. He brought joy to his family and seldom missed celebrating the holidays with them. But his greatest joy in life was his son Alan, and so much of Jon will live on through that wonderful man.

Jon was preceded in death by his father Melvin G. Davis and his mother JoAnn C. Davis; Melvin’s sister Doris Maslonka; JoAnn’s brother Richard Young; and Jon’s partner Conni Peters. 

He is survived by his son Alan Craghead; his brother Gene Davis and his wife JoAnn Stransky; his sister Jackie Davis Moeller, her husband Brian Moeller and their family; Melvin’s sister Jan Hamamoto, her husband Marshall and their family; JoAnn’s sister Susan Young; Alan’s mother Patti Craghead; Doris’ daughter Pammi McGowan and her husband Mike; and Richard’s son Richard Young Jr.