By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
For some people, simply waking up and facing the day every day is enough.
David Naber, a long-time volunteer for Love Inc. in Burlington, was that kind of person.
“I think our friend Big Dave was pretty important,” said Dena Corey, the director of services at Love Inc. “He had the right philosophy in life.
“When you greeted Dave in the morning, he would say, ‘Today is going to be a good day,’” she said. “I’d say, ‘How come?’ And he’d say something along the lines of, ‘I get to help at Love.’”
Naber, who served as the unofficial greeter at the main store in Burlington, died at his home April 4. He was 55 years old.
By the estimates of Love Inc. staff, Naber had volunteered at the service agency for about 15 or 16 years. He was there when both Executive Director Bill Schoessling and Corey arrived.
Naber would spend his days volunteering for the service organization, doing everything from sorting paper clips to stocking the food pantry to greeting visitors at the door.
“He’s a fixture here, is what it really amounts to,” Schoessling said. “In Dave’s eyes, every day was a good day.
“I don’t think I ever saw him have a bad day,” Schoessling added. “Everybody loved him. It’s just the way it was.”
In fact, Naber’s job as a greeter earned him an unofficial nickname – sheriff of Love Inc.
“He was our ‘head of security,’” explained Schoessling. “Our sheriff.”
The nickname stuck so securely that when a staff member visited a swap meet, she found an old, official sheriff’s badge for Naber.
“The family called me up yesterday, and asked if we had a problem with burying him with the badge on,” Schoessling said. “He was always known as the sheriff.”
Corey stressed Naber was always positive about life and “didn’t stress about a lot of things.”
“There was a lot to learn from him,” she explained.
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