Inside Geneva: The Mystery of the Big Easy Chair Grave Marker at Oak Hill Cemetery

If I live to be 100, my favorite headstone in all the world will be the most famous at Oak Hill Cemetery, and it belongs to—I think—Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Naylor of Geneva.

We re-ran about it a couple Saturdays ago, thinking smugly that we had the answer to many people's question—namely, why the heck did the Naylors decided to make their headstone into a giant easy chair?

Unfortunately, the information we had stored away in a shoe box is miniscule and sheds little light on the mystery.

As you can see by the photos, the Naylors' monument is in shape of size of a large easy chair. It's perched at the top of the hill and faces west, overlooking the Fox River. Inscribed on the back of the chair, facing the river, is one word: "Pals."

Below "Pals" is a little more information:

• Loie, July 22, 1880 to March 8, 1926
• Hal, Feb. 21, 1883 to May 29, 1952

This column can't answer the primary question everyone wants answered, or its followups. Namely, why did the Naylors choose an easy chair—and what's the story behind it? What did it symbolize? Was it a model of Mr. and Mrs. Naylor's favorite? Who made the easy chair monument?

All we can add to the discussion is what's in Mrs. Naylor's obituary, from The Geneva Republican of March 12, 1926.

And the results might be a little more melancholy than we'd expected.

"Mrs. H.L. Naylor, wife of H.L. Naylor of the St. Charles School for Boys, passed away Sunday afternoon at the Springbrook Sanitarium. She has not been well for some time but was only taken into the sanitarium a week ago, and her death was a shock to her friends.

"Mr. and Mrs. Naylor have been officers at the St. Charles School for Boys for the past 16 years. They were on the Wilson farm for two years, when they were transferred to a cottage near the administration building. Mrs. Naylor's home was in Columbus, Ohio.

"The funeral was held from the Skoglund Chapel, Geneva, yesterday afternoon, with burial at Oak Hill Cemetery."

That's it.

No mention of relatives, which appears to be standard for obituaries in those days. No mention of Mrs. Naylor's first name—although we have to guess that she was "Loie" and her husband was "Hal." And if Hal's death came later, as the dates suggest, was the easy chair his idea?

I'm sure the story is published somewhere, and I'm sure we'll find the answer eventually.

Until then, we leave you with an apology and a mystery still intact.