Longtime Southern Nevada community activist Naylor dies

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004 | 8:38 a.m.

In 1976 then-Mesquite Club President Ruth Naylor wanted her organization to give Las Vegas a lasting, living monument for the nation's bicentennial.

That year the Mesquite Club dedicated the Garden of the Four Seasons at Lorenzi Park. Built at a cost of $10,000, it included more than 200 rose bushes, flowering trees and four statues of children depicting the seasons. Naylor's dream lives on in the postcard picturesque garden on the west side of the Lorenzi Park pond.

Ruth I.M. Naylor, a Las Vegas community activist for nearly half a century, died Saturday in a local hospital. She was 85.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 58 years will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Griffith United Methodist Church, 1701 E. Oakey Blvd. Palm Mortuary-Eastern is handling the arrangements.

"She was a true Las Vegas pioneer," said her son, Robert W. Naylor of Sacramento, a former California assemblyman and Las Vegas High graduate.

"My mother was active in many community and church organizations. In 1955, she was a founding member of the Griffith United Methodist Church and sang in its choir."

The project Naylor helped spearhead at Lorenzi Park today is maintained by Las Vegas city crews.

"It is a well-kept secret," said Thonni Morikawa, manuscript curator for the Nevada State Museum at Lorenzi Park, who has spent some of her lunch hours in the tranquil surroundings.

In an undated memoir, Naylor recalled her 1975-76 presidency of the 89-year-old Mesquite Club, noting that the organization during that time also supported a bicycle safety program and hosted a naturalization ceremony for 65 new citizens at the federal courthouse.

She was born Ruth Ida May Griswold in Springfield, Mass., on Nov. 14, 1919. In 1941 she graduated magna cum laude from American International College in Springfield with a bachelor of science degree in commercial teaching.

A year later she married Charles I. Naylor. They moved to Southern Nevada in 1946. He was prominent in real estate and as Boy Scout leader. He died in 1992.

Ruth Naylor also was a leader for the Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, served as president of Philanthropic Education Organization Chapter G and was a member of the Assistance League of Las Vegas.

In addition to her son, she is survived by two other sons, John Naylor of Mesa, Ariz., and Tom Naylor of Henderson; a daughter Kathryn Naylor of San Francisco; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

The family said donations can be made to Griffith United Methodist Church, 1701 E. Oakey Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89104.