Dorothy (Openshaw) Naylor of Berlin, Vt., previously of Calais Vt., passed away peacefully at Woodridge Nursing and Rehabilitation on September 7, 2026. Dorothy was born at Newport Hospital in Newport, R.I., on January 24, 1939, to James A. and Dorothy (Harvest) Openshaw. She grew up in Southampton, Mass., where she graduated from Northampton School for Girls in 1957.
Dorothy graduated from University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in 1961. While at UMass she met and married her lifelong partner and love, Ben Naylor. Together with their infant daughter, they moved to Manhattan, Kan., in summer 1961. While there, Ben continued his studies, and their family grew to include three sons. In 1967 they moved the family back east and settled at Collar Hill Road in Calais in 1972, where they resided for over 50 years.
Dorothy wore many hats throughout her active life. She taught fifth and sixth grades at East Montpelier Elementary School; she served on multiple boards and committees; and she partnered with Ben in homesteading their land and developing a thriving small business. She was a lifelong learner, an innovator and an overall feisty woman who regarded obstacles as mere challenges her whole life.
Dorothy began her teaching career in the Four Corners (one-room) School House. Among her many accomplishments are that she developed a winter survival/Nordic skiing course that survives to this day.
Throughout her life, Dorothy embraced serendipity. One day in 1976 she bought too many peaches from the co-op and turned them into a thriving small jam business now owned by son Kelt and his wife Kristina.
In her later life she served on the Calais School Board during the contentious merger required by Act 46. She continued the fight to maintain local schools right up to the very end, attending school board meetings virtually from her nursing home.
Though always active, she was never too busy to wander their property in Calais or sit on the porch of their cottage on Lake Champlain with a gin and tonic. Her family remembers her fierce love for all of us.
Dorothy is survived by her three children, daughter, Sonja N. Andrews (Ross) of Calais, Vt.; son Kelt M. Naylor (Kristina) of Dummerston, Vt.; son Benjamin E. Naylor (Jennifer) of Petersburg, N.Y.; her seven grandchildren, Lillian and John (Rebecca) Andrews, Caroline and Max Naylor, and Aleana, Sophia (Lucas) and Eli Naylor; and one great-grandson, Harvest Andrews. Dorothy was predeceased by her husband, Ben Naylor; infant son Kurt W. Naylor; parents; and siblings, Judy (Openshaw) Findeisen and James A. Openshaw Jr.
A celebration of life will be held on June 5, 2027, at Memorial Hall in Calais.
The family is asking you consider a donation to one of the following organizations: Rural School Community Alliance (vtruralschools.org) or North Calais Memorial Hall Association 207 G.A.R. Road, Calais, VT (memorialhallcalais.org).