Frank Crowder Taylor

Frank C. Taylor

Frank Crowder Taylor was born in Atlanta, Georgia on September 18, 1941 to Wade and Lillian Taylor. He passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by family, in Naples, Florida on March 17, 2026 at the age of 84.

Frank valued education and was a man of the world and many careers. He served as one of the first Peace Corps volunteers in Peru in 1962 and then earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from George Washington University in 1964. After performing research in Portugal, Paris and Brazil and obtaining his master’s and doctorate degrees in international education and economics of education from Columbia University, Frank worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Inter-American Development Bank, from 1967 to 1977, delivering foreign aid in Brazil and living in Rio de Janeiro. He left Brazil, traveled the globe and then obtained his master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1978. After writing for the Pensacola News Journal and the St. Petersburg Times, he returned to Sao Paulo, Brazil as South American Bureau Chief for McGraw-Hill World News, from 1981 to 1984.

While in Sao Paolo, Frank met Alberta Hunter, the famous American blues singer who was performing there at the spunky age of 88. The two became fast friends due to their shared southern upbringing and Alberta’s desperation to find cornbread one day, which was rather foreign to Brazilians and which only Frank was able to deliver thanks to Dona Francisca. Frank told Alberta he wanted to write her biography, to which she replied, “C’mon baby, let’s go.” So off Frank went, leaving Brazil in 1984 for New York, where Alberta lived, to write Alberta Hunter: a Celebration in Blues. During this time in Manhattan, Frank also served as Executive Director for the Business Press Educational Foundation, established and funded by Harold McGraw, Jr., then CEO of McGraw-Hill, Inc., to encourage more journalism students to become business writers. He simultaneously wrote freelance pieces from his interviews with Pelé, Paloma Picaso, Woody Allen, and other celebrities, as well as travel articles for the New York Times.

Ready for yet another chapter in life, Frank left Manhattan in 1989 to become President of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development in Berea, Kentucky, where he fell in love with the people and culture of rural Appalachia. He served in that role for five years before joining the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, where he worked for thirteen years as a Program Director in Philanthropy and Volunteerism before retiring in 2007. Frank was proud of his community development work with grassroots efforts to recognize and harness citizen power in promoting social justice in rural America, his participation in the management of the Kellogg International Leadership Program, the Mid South Delta Initiative, and the Kellogg Leadership for Community Change Program, and his roles with multiple sessions of the Salzburg Seminar.

It was during Frank’s time in Kalamazoo that he met and fell in love with Barry Schroeder, whom he married in 2008. Throughout their retirement, Frank and Barry enjoyed traveling the world and visiting every continent, volunteering, supporting the arts, and spending time with friends and family.

Frank was the epitome of class, having the gentleman’s style, sophistication, and good looks of James Bond, but without any pretense. He was instantly likeable and humble and could always call upon his genuine Southern charm, quick wit, and humor to put others at ease. Usually reluctant to talk about himself, he was nonetheless a gifted conversationalist, preferring to learn about others through his insightful questions. He was an equally gifted writer and correspondent who maintained numerous international and domestic friendships, many dating back to the earliest of his travels and work abroad. He loved deeply and was deeply loved.

His adventures included trekking in Mongolia, communing with blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos Islands, hanging out with polar bears on the shore of the Hudson Bay, camping on Ellesmere Island near the North Pole, swimming in the Amazon River, walking on safari in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, working in Alaska as a garbage collector, and riding his Harley. Frank could have proudly claimed at the end, “Wow, what a ride!”

Frank is survived by his loving husband, Barry; his son, Damian (Arianne); grandchildren, Sophie and Vincent; sister, Cathy Petel (Wayne); and extended family of nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Wade and Lillian Taylor, and his sister, Lynn Mehre.

A celebration of life will be held at Stetson Chapel in Kalamazoo, Michigan on April 25, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests donations be made to Grand Piano Series, 4850 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 301, Naples, FL 34103.