John Davis & Melissa Ascheman-Davis Scholarship

Melissa Ascheman (Davis) and John Davis met at Winona State University (WSU) in 1990. Melissa graduated with a Mass Communications degree and Sociology minor, while John graduated with a Marketing degree. They were married in 1995 and in 2015, they celebrated 20 years of marriage. In 2011, they welcomed the birth of their son, Braeden.

Since graduating from WSU, the couple successfully developed a new company in 2003, which currently employs over 20 employees. John was a sales person for several years before someone noticed his passion for sales and offered him a business opportunity. The company had significant growth in sales. With her educational background, Melissa ran the HR department, ensuring employees were offered the top 401K matching fees and paid time off, granting paid holidays, from Martin Luther King Day to several other paid holidays through-out the year, offering the employees a great environment in which to work on a day to day basis. Together, their education allowed them opportunity to grow a successful small business. Their success in life can be attributed to the education they received at WSU, as they have been able to use their specialties to develop many career paths for their employees.

I, John Davis, want this scholarship formed in memory of Melissa because after a 2 ½ year courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer, Melissa passed away on August 29, 2015. Our family was, and will forever be blessed by her kindness and generosity.

Melissa donated a large portion of her income to non-profit groups, such as wildlife and humane groups who were in need of help. Over her life, Melissa and I fostered and found homes for over 15 Golden Retrievers; Retrieve a Golden of MN (RAGOM) is one of the passions of which she was a huge part, and I continue her legacy. Through Melissa’s generosity and kindness, she helped pay for heat for several years to a gentleman and his dog with whom we became friends. These are just a few of the examples of generosity that she gave to others.

The motivation for this scholarship comes from our own experience; both Melissa and I worked and struggled through college. We feel that overcoming the challenges many face in college, similar to ours, should be rewarded if possible.

We value WSU, as our office manager’s daughter (who is our son’s god-mother), graduated from WSU in the nursing program, along with other close family members. Our best friend and her husband graduated from WSU, and another friend/colleague who also works for the company as Purchasing Manager, graduated from WSU; thus this is our family.

Both Melissa and I feel that our success should be forever shared with others, who may be in the same place in life where we were at one time, and who would appreciate assistance with their education. It is important to both of us, as we truly would have appreciated the assistance as well.

Scholarship contact is John.