David Davenport dies at 79

(l-r)David Davenport, NACo Presidential Scholarship winner Caleb Lee, former NACo Executive Director Larry Naake and former NACo President Lenny Eliason at the 2012 NACo Annual Conference. Photo by David Hathcox

David Davenport was the father of public employees’ supplementary retirement programs 

John David Davenport, the father of the public employees’ supplementary retirement program and a stabilizing force over the last several decades of NACo’s history, died Dec. 2 in Oklahoma City, where he made his home. He was 79.

He built and sold half-a-dozen businesses in his lifetime, including the Public Employee Benefit Service Corp, which he sold to Nationwide Retirement Solutions. His $1 million in seed money for the nascent NACo Financial Services Center (FSC) helped grow a component of the organization that significantly supports the overall operating budget and helps keep membership dues low. Over the last 22 years, the FSC has contributed more than $70 million.

In the early 1980s, he and Nationwide loaned NACo an entire year’s payroll when federal policies and a weak real estate market bankrupted the organization.

“He has helped make NACo probably the most financially solvent of the major organizations in D.C.,” said retired NACo Executive Director Larry Naake, whose relationship with Davenport went back to the early ’80s. “He said his relationship with NACo was the best partnership he had ever been a part of because it was such a rewarding experience. Not financially, but because it involved and benefitted public servants.”

A native of Wichita Falls Texas, near the Oklahoma border, Davenport began his career as a salesman for Proctor and Gamble, traveling to independently owned gas stations in rural Texas. While talking to the owners that he recognized a glaring need for a supplemental retirement program that the nature of their businesses didn’t otherwise provide. Later, in the late 1970s, he pushed for changes in the tax code to create what are known as 457 plans — deferred compensation retirement plans for government employees.

“He saw what 401Ks could do for the private sector and asked why public sector employees didn’t have that,” Naake said. “He was the leading force behind getting that through Congress.”

NACo Executive Director Matt Chase echoed that.

“First and foremost, David was about improving the lives of public employees,” he said. “He approached our partnership through the lens of tremendous respect for public servants. He has helped 1.5 million county employees and retirees put aside billions in extra savings.”

“David also understood the power of pooled purchasing and the importance of driving down costs for county governments. His vision and business acumen also helped NACo launch the U.S. Communities Purchasing Alliance. This partnership is now saving state and local government, including educational institutions, more than $150 million each year in real money, let alone countless hours in procurement.”

Retired FSC Managing Director Steve Swendiman spoke to Davenport, whom he called a mentor, once a day while on, then weekly after retirement.

“I saw an entrepreneur in action; I got to see how he worked,” he said. “David had a wonderful philosophy that the more inclusive you are in your business operations, the larger you could grow the pie, and the larger you can grow the pie, the more everybody benefits. You aren’t competing with others, you’re finding others to include.”

That extended to his recreation, where he invited scores of friends to join him on the golf course. He had twice qualified to play in the British Open. 

Mark Johnson, executive director of the North Dakota Association of Counties, was struck by his openness and generosity.

“From the first time I met him he was just a perfect gentleman to me,” Johnson said. “He offered to take me out on a couple of golf courses, and it was a thrill to play with him. He was the kind of guy who played a better game of golf because you wanted to keep up; but also, having four or five hours to spend with him was special.”

Davenport personally funded the NACo Presidential Scholarship, which has been awarded to a student from the outgoing NACo president’s county since the 1980s. But his support often didn’t end there. Swendiman said he often maintained relationships with scholarship winners, providing advice and support as they continued their education.

Winning the scholarship was a life-changer for Rachel Donatti, of Boone County, Mo. in 2004. Her trip to the Annual Conference to recieve the award was the first flight she had ever taken, and the scholarship allowed her to go to college. She continued corresponding with Davenport, and the time he put into their relationship surprised and made her feel honored, years after the scholarship award.

"I couldn't believe that a man as busy as he was would be able to take the time to text me about my family; He has so much going on," she said. 

Naake said NACo was like a second family to Davenport, who loved coming to meetings and catching up with members.

“He had a genuine appreciation for our members and often went out of his way to keep in touch with them and reach out if they were having difficulty,” Naake said.

“His businesses made him fabulously wealthy, but he never lost his rural Texas sensibilities,” Swendiman said.  

His work ethic was legendary, and at his funeral, Davenport’s son, Mark, notedthat his father had two speeds — park and full speed ahead.

“He lived the American dream,” Naake said. “He had a feel for ideas, and he probably could come up with 100 new ideas a day. They might not all work, but he was always thinking.”

That attitude, up to the end, won a fan in Joel Griffith, a new hire to the NACo FSC who got to spend two days with Davenport shortly before he died.

 “I was amazed at the energy he had, both for what he was doing and life in general,” Griffith said. “He brought me into discussions as a full participant, and I learned so much from him in such a short time.”

Davenport gave Griffith decades-old business plans that contained nuggets of ideas he hoped would find some use.

“He knew he wouldn’t be around to see a lot of these plans take shape, but he was still excited about what they could mean for everyone having a secure retirement,” Griffith said. “His passion for business…that’s how I want to be. Never wanting to retire, even if you have the resources to do it. I knew as soon as I met him that he was remarkable.”

In addition to his son, Davenport is survived by his wife of 61 years, high school sweetheart Patsy, and four granddaughters. He was proceeded in death by three daughters —  Alexis, Lisa and Patricia, He was chairman of the board of directors of Quail Creek Bank in Oklahoma City and had been appointed to the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board in 1987.