George W Naylor Jr.

George W. Naylor Jr. passed away peacefully at home with his beloved wife Colleen by his side on Easter Sunday, March 31. He was born Sept. 13, 1930, in Wichita to parents George W. Sr. and Agnes (McGarigle) Naylor. He was retired from a long career at Coleman-Evcon as a heating laboratory supervisor. His working life began at age 8 at Safeway keeping the carts clean and ready to use. He was a proud 1948 North High Redskin graduate. He was a member of Masonic Lodge #168, 32nd degree Mason. He enjoyed playing trumpet in the Midian Shrine Band for many years. As a teen and young adult, he pitched and fielded on church league fast pitch softball teams, where his fierce competitive spirit occasionally resulted in injuries, including his knee jamming when it met another guy’s head! When his son became a Cub Scout, George became a leader from Cub Scouts on up. The troop camped every other weekend including during the winter. His rule for these trips: “Don’t send your son without you.” He continued in leadership positions even after George III moved on to other activities, including attending the national Jamboree in Valley Forge, PA. George was an accomplished woodworker with a well-equipped workshop where he liked to spend time creating and, later, just “puttering.” He approached his woodworking as he did everything else in life with a goal of perfection. One of his greatest joys came from spending time at Roaring River State Park in Missouri trout fishing. He and Colleen spent decades going there and, though the trailers changed (rather regularly), the ritual of being ready for the starting siren and getting his daily tag and cup of coffee at the store never wavered. He joyfully passed on these traditions to grandchildren and great grandchildren. He and Colleen met at Wesley Methodist Church at age 15 and later joined George and Janice at Pleasant Valley. They were active members of the Builders Sunday School Class and enjoyed many outings with them. They seldom missed Wednesday morning coffee at the church with many stories shared around the table before the domino games began. They especially enjoyed the times when Braden, Macie and Riley were there to participate. At last week’s games, he accused Colleen and Macie of ganging up on him because they won all the games between the two of them. He was a man of many interests and passions who was a friend to all he met, but his family was always the most important. He loved and was devoted to his family. He supported them in all their activities and attended as many events as possible starting with George and Michelle and continuing through to the grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Juanita Brady. His is survived by his wife of almost 74 years, Colleen; children: George W. III (Janice), Michelle (Frank) Mowdy; grandchildren: Sean (Stephanie) Naylor, Luke (Kari) Naylor, Carmen Zuniga, Chad (Angela) Mowdy, Leslie Meiring; great grandchildren: Macie and Riley Naylor, Emily and Logan Naylor, Braden (Karlee) Mowdy, Leila Zotinca, Beckett Zuniga, Hanna, Alayna and Breanna Mowdy. He was looking forward to their first great-great grandson arriving in June.

He loved and was greatly loved by his family and will be dearly missed by them and his many, many friends.

Contributions in George's memory may be made to Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church Youth, 1600 W 27th St N, Wichita, Kansas 67204.