Mr. David A. Napior

February 2, 2020

David A. Napior, 75, passed away peacefully, with family by his side on Sunday February 2, 2020. Born in Hamtramck, Michigan on August 3, 1944 to the late Edward and Patricia Napior, David was the oldest of seven. He grew up in Fraser, Michigan where he received a full scholarship to the prestigious Cranbrook Prep, graduating in 1962. He was an avid baseball fan, captain of the Varsity team at Cranbrook and also won a local summer league championship in 1962. He attended Harvard University on a full scholarship, graduating in 1966 and continuing graduate studies at Harvard. During this time he became fascinated with computers and statistics, causing him to change from an education major to statistics. In 1969 he was a lecturer at University of California – Irvine, where he taught courses in Statistics and Sociology. At the same time he began work for SVP which was essentially the beginnings of market research. He began work for Abt Associates in 1976 where he worked closely with state and federal government agencies on many research projects. In 1984 he started his own company called Strategix Inc, were he won many market research projects and even some government contracts. Joining Roper Starch Worldwide in 1986 allowed David to truly shine in the business world, with achievements too long to list. He then went on to GFK MRI as Senior Vice President of Research. Ever the numbers man, David departed this world on 02/02/2020, a date palindrome. David was a stoic man of immense generosity and imparted this virtue onto his children, having donated a kidney to his sister Carol at a young age and in turn receiving a liver transplant from his son Jesse later in life. David is survived by his wife Christine Cooper, four children, Jesse, Jason (Jill), Anna (J.C.) Martignoni, Leo (Denise) and stepchildren Elizabeth (Jonathan) Sherman and Joseph. David leaves a legacy of 11 grandchildren. Please consider making a donation to support the kidney transplant program at Columbia University in lieu of flowers. Checks should be made out to “Columbia University” with a note in the memo line that the gift is made in memory of David A. Napior. Checks may be sent to Columbia University Medical Center, Office of Development, attn.: Jamie Montgomery, 516. W. 168th Street, Floor 3, New York, NY 10032.