HARLAN BATSON NAYLOR JR.
02/20/1928 - 03/18/2023
Harlan Batson Naylor, Jr. died peacefully at home on Saturday, March 18, 2023, at the age of 95. Born in Amarillo, Texas, on February 20, 1928, Harlan lived with his parents and older sister, Dottie, just across the Red River in Mangum, Oklahoma, during the Depression and moved to Houston in the late 1930’s.
Harlan attended Reagan High School in Houston, and graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He spent his entire professional career working for Ace Distributing Co. in Houston. He met his wife, Betty Grayce Lovli, on a double date bowling outing, and they were married on April 14, 1951.
A polio survivor, he contracted the disease in 1952, a year before the polio vaccine was discovered, and three years before the vaccine became widely available. Told he’d never walk again, he proved the doctors wrong and went on to have an active life sailing on Galveston Bay with his sons (he was for a time Commadore of the Seabrook Sailing Club) and, in retirement, traveling the world with his wife Betty and their church and AARP friends. A singer with a rich, baritone voice, his hobbies were many, all requiring an attention to detail and master craftmanship. He loved nothing better than working in his garage workshop, passing on to his sons the wood-working skills he learned from his father. He built and flew model airplanes, spent countless hours perfecting the layout of his room-filling model trains, crafted beautiful stained glass pieces, and, with his wife Betty, created stunning pieces of ceramic art. And he could always make his daughter, Nancy, smile with a made-toorder omelette.
Called “Beep” by his father and affectionately known as “Pappy” by his children and grandchildren, Harlan was predeceased in death by his parents, Harlan Sr. (a master woodworker and cabinet builder), his mother Dorothy (a schoolteacher and church organist), his sister Dottie, and his wife of 54 years, Betty. He is survived by his three children (Harlan B. (“Skip”) Naylor, III and his wife,
Molly, Jon William Naylor, and Nancy Elizabeth Naylor), two grandsons (Bradley and Matthew), and by four greatgrandchildren (Abby, Luke, Laurel and Ivy).
Pappy’s children would like to express their appreciation to the wonderful women who helped care for Pappy in his last years, especially Elizabeth Comeaux, who was his primary caregiver and everyday companion.
Those wishing to honor Harlan are encouraged to make a contribution to Willow Meadows Baptist Church, where he and Betty were long time members of the congregation and he led adult Bible study and exercise classes for seniors.
Those wishing to remember him are encouraged to toast him with a Rob Roy – his favorite cocktail – at sunset on Galveston Bay.