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LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS<br />
On July 13, 1993, Jerry,<br />
Betty, and two of their<br />
grandsons flew out to Colorado.<br />
When landing at the airport,<br />
a worker came up to them and<br />
asked, “Are you the Naylors<br />
from Iowa?” When they said<br />
yes, he told them, “I have good<br />
news and bad news for you. The<br />
bad news is a tornado took your<br />
home, businesses, and farms but<br />
the good news was no one was<br />
killed.”<br />
That day David Naylor was<br />
in the construction trailer that<br />
was strapped down on a cement<br />
pad. He heard the horrific noise<br />
of the tornado. He ran for the<br />
door, knowing he needed to get<br />
out. Everything was flying by<br />
horizontally. David ran outside<br />
and laid flat on his back while<br />
the tornado scooted him across<br />
the ground. He hit a dock<br />
feet first and slid under the<br />
cleaning mill. He saw the north<br />
warehouse, his parent’s house,<br />
and his neighbor’s house gone.<br />
CNN called David “a human<br />
hockey puck “as he was carried<br />
perpendicular from office to<br />
warehouse. He could only say,<br />
“I was carried to safety by the<br />
hand of God.”<br />
word. He always had a spark<br />
of energy.”<br />
Naylor became a member<br />
of the Shriners, who believe in<br />
fun and philanthropy, and his<br />
family said it was a perfect fit.<br />
A lifelong love of flying led<br />
Naylor to become a founding<br />
member of the El Kahir Shriner<br />
Flying Fez unit. During<br />
his 30 years as a Flying Fez,<br />
he flew hundreds of children<br />
from all over the United States<br />
for treatment at various Shriners<br />
Hospitals. David earned<br />
his pilot’s license at the age<br />
of 17, eventually becoming<br />
a Shriner as a Flying Fez, so<br />
he and his father could fly<br />
together.<br />
Becker said Naylor had a<br />
big sense of humor and was a<br />
great storyteller. He enjoyed<br />
racing stock cars, skydiving,<br />
fishing in Canada, and snow<br />
skiing in Colorado.<br />
“He was someone you could<br />
visit with forever. He would<br />
tell stories about landing on<br />
the side of a mountain in Mexico<br />
and other great adventures,<br />
and, although they seemed farfetched,<br />
they were all true,”<br />
Becker said.<br />
Not only was Naylor devoted<br />
to making a greater difference,<br />
but his resilience was<br />
also to be admired, according<br />
to those who remember him.<br />
In the early 1990s, he and his<br />
wife, Betty, lost their home<br />
and businesses in a tornado,<br />
but he remained focused on<br />
helping others.<br />
Naylor made his final<br />
landing on July 21, 2017. At<br />
the age of 90, Naylor was still<br />
living in the style he grew<br />
accustomed to – out of the<br />
ordinary, living life to the<br />
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