Sep 07, 2022 7:37 PM

Alicia Naylor Goehring

Posted Sep 07, 2022 7:37 PM
Alicia Naylor Goehring
Alicia Naylor Goehring

Alicia Naylor Goehring, 61, of San Francisco, died August 23, 2022, in the arms of her loving husband, Jerry, after a brief and courageous battle with cancer.

Alicia was born September 15, 1960, to Jack and Alice Naylor. She graduated from Burlington High School in 1978.  She received her BA in History/Business from Coe College and her MA in Urban and Regional Planning from Ball State.

Alicia married Jerry Goehring in 1981.  He survives her as do her three sisters, Jan (Peter) Allan and Pat (Bill) Larsen, both of DePere, Wisconsin, and Debbie (Andy) Opiekun of Burlington, brother-in-law, Duane and his family of Destin, Florida along with several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great-nephews.

Alicia had several remarkable achievements in her career starting with being the first Director of the Burlington National Main Street Program.

She went on to be Director of the Bureau of Downtown Development, Director of the Division of Historical Preservation and held various Director positions at the Wisconsin Historical Society during her 32 years in Wisconsin.  She then took a "retirement job" in San Francisco as Executive Director/ CEO of the California Historical Society.

A Celebration of Life will be held in San Francisco. 

A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, September 17, following at 9:30 a.m. visitation at Prugh~Thielen Funeral Home. A time of food and fellowship will be held in the community room at Prugh~Thielen Funeral Home after the service. Burial will be held at a later date in Burlington. 

Her husband wrote: "She was largely accepting and unemotional throughout her treatment, which in turn inspired her doctors and surgeons to see how strong she was.  In addition, given the fact that she worked hard to preserve history and promote the unfettered access to history education that influenced millions of people over time, I like to think that her unfinished work and comments should, in fact, be left to the imagination." 

Memorial gifts can be made to the Alice Naylor Camp Wyoming Scholarship, First Presbyterian Church, 321 N. 5th St. Burlington, IA 52601.