'A brother to everybody': Friends recall Nate Davenport, who died saving kids in Jupiter fountain

JUPITER — Friends described Nate Davenport, who died after trying to save his children from electrical shock at the Harbourside Place fountain on Sunday, as "the quintessential family man."

The 45-year-old Jupiter native was the father of four children under the age of 13. He was spending the day boating with his wife and two of his children when they tied up at the Jupiter waterfront complex and the children ran to play in the splash zone near the fountain.

When the kids screamed from the water, Davenport jumped in without hesitation and threw the kids out of the fountain, where swimming is not permitted. He never regained consciousness from the shocks he received and died at Jupiter Medical Center.

“Everything Nate did was to try and make his family better,” said Scott Gorman, who met Davenport at Jupiter Middle School, played football with him at Jupiter High School, attended Florida State with him and still counted him a friend nearly 40 years later.

“He was just such a good person. He was like a brother to everybody.”

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Jupiter officials are continuing to investigate what caused the incident, along with Florida Power & Light Co. and the owners of Harbourside Place. It sent Davenport and four other people to hospitals, including three children who went to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach as pediatric trauma alert cases.

The children continued to receive treatment for their injuries late Tuesday, as did the other adult, who Palm Beach County Fire Rescue brought to Jupiter Medical Center. An update on their conditions wasn't immediately available Wednesday.

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The electrical incident was the first one on record with the town of Jupiter since the fountain opened in 2013, officials said Tuesday. Signs posted near the fountain tell visitors that swimming in it is prohibited.

Davenport was president of RGD Consulting Engineers, a company based in Jupiter that his father, Robert, founded in 1988. Prior to that, he was a Navy fighter pilot who served overseas in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He entered the Navy after graduating from FSU, fulfilling a goal he'd had since his freshman year at Jupiter High, Gorman said.

After leaving the Navy, he earned a master's in business and finance at the University of Miami in 2011.

Nate Davenport recalled as Jupiter man who believed in his friends

John Rourke served in the Army at the same time that Davenport served in the Navy. The two met when they attended Jupiter High School, but became better friends in their adult years.

They spoke over the phone each week — sometimes three or four times — for the past three years. They had long conversations about parenting, politics and war stories. Rourke said Davenport also loved fishing and boating, often taking his boat down to the Florida Keys.

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“Any time I saw a call from Nate, I knew that we were going to set aside at least 30 minutes to talk,” said Rourke, who lives in Palm City. “He was just one of those guys that kept the conversation going. I’m really going to miss our honest conversations.”

Rourke didn’t get a chance to call Nate back when he missed his call on Saturday.

“‘The good die young’ has some truth to it,” Rourke said. “Nate is someone who should have been able to see his kids grow up and become successful and get married.”

Rourke said that aside from his wife and mother, no one supported him as much as Davenport, whose family lives in the town's Abacoa neighborhood.

“Nate was just always just so damn proud of what I did,” said Rourke. “It was a breath of fresh air to talk to him and get the opportunity to hear about what he loved. He loved his kids.”

Davenport’s family is planning funeral services at Christ Fellowship Church, where he and his family attended services every Sunday.

Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Friends recall Jupiter father killed by fountain electrocution