June 2, 1946 - March 29, 2009

Jesse Ronald Davis Jr., 62, died Sunday.

He was born in Newark, Ohio, to Jesse Ronald "Ron" Davis Sr. and Elizabeth Jane (Canter) Davis. He was raised in Hebron, Ohio. While attending Lakewood High School, he was enrolled in the first-ever class of the county-wide vocational school and played four years of basketball. In 1963, he was part of the "starting five" when Lakewood won the county championship.

Jesse was drafted into the Army in 1965 and was sent to the Central Highlands, near Pleiku, in Vietnam. He served in the Graves Registration Unit of the 4th Infantry Division, where he handled the remains of military troops killed in action. Jesse met General Westmoreland, commander of U.S. troops in Vietnam, during this one-year tour of duty. The day Jesse returned home from Vietnam in July 1967, he met Margie Dawn Hartman. They married in November 1969 and were blessed with a daughter, Renee Elizabeth, born in 1971. She and her husband, Craig Born, presented Jesse and Margie a granddaughter, Ella Elizabeth, on Jesse's birthday in 2005.

In 1989 Jesse started a publication for car and truck enthusiasts in Ohio and organized car shows and cruises around the state. At most of these events, someone Jesse knew would be coming to "talk cars" with him before he was even out of the truck. He sold the publication in 1999 when he and Margie moved to Oregon to be near their daughter and son-in-law. In 2002, the owner asked Jesse to take helm of the magazine again. He served as editor until 2008, when his battle with brain cancer forced him to relinquish the reins.

Jesse retired from Rockwell International in 1995. During his 30 years at Rockwell, he worked at both the Newark and Marysville, Ohio, plants.

He was a 40-year member of the American Legion Ohio 585 and a lifetime member of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Jesse is survived by his wife, Margie; daughter and son-in-law Renee and Craig; and granddaughter Ella, all of Albany; step-brother Danny Artz of Newark, Ohio; and step-sister Helen Artz of Hebron, Ohio.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and step-brother Earl "Buddy" Artz.

A celebration of Jesse's life will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home in Albany.