Jimmie Lee Taylor

Jimmie was born in Hornell, New York on July 16, 1940 to Harry and Betty Taylor. He spent most of his childhood in Avoca, New York where he worked with his father in the family’s television store and repair business. He graduated from Avoca High School in 1959. He moved to Orlando, Florida when he was in his 20’s, which is where he joined Reeves Memorial United Methodist Church and eventually met his wife, Vicki French. Jimmie and Vicki met while he was directing the Sunday Evening Worship Choir. They were married on May 10, 1969 at Reeves surrounded by their families and friends. They remained members of Reeves for many years, where Vicki’s grandfather served as the groundskeeper/custodian. They raised their daughters there among a very close church family. Jimmie worked in the shipping department at Merita Bakery in Orlando for 31 years until his retirement in 2002. After his retirement, he and Vicki moved back to Vicki’s hometown, Union, SC, where Vicki was raised, to help care for her aging father- Julian French. They lived next door and cared for him for 15 years until his death in 2015. With encouragement from family, they moved to Apex, NC in 2018, where they lived within 3 miles of both daughters, their sons-in-law, and all four of their beloved grandchildren.

Jimmie loved family, food, music and telling the same jokes repeatedly. Although he never attended school past high school, he had an extraordinary memory and unique gifts. He would design elaborate house plans in his head and could remember every name, date and place he ever knew, visited or even just heard about. He had an amazing gift for mental math like his father. Jimmie was a naturally gifted singer and anyone who heard him sing was amazed. Jimmie treasured the days he spent singing in a Barber Shop Quartet and talked often of this throughout his life. He got to sing again at the Buffalo Opry House for fun while living in South Carolina and he really enjoyed these times.

Jimmie had a certain way of doing things and could be difficult when they weren’t done his way. But, he learned to apologize when he got upset and did a lot more of that later in life than losing his temper. Even throughout the last 14 months he spent in the nursing facility, the staff would comment on how much he apologized if he got upset. Jimmie never went a day or an interaction with his wife and daughters without saying he loved them. He was unbelievably proud of his family and every caretaker he had knew everything about his daughters and grandchildren.

Jimmie is survived by his wife of 56 years, Vicki Taylor, of Apex, NC; daughters Amy Miller (Chris) and Juliana Lindenberg (David) of Cary; grandchildren Noah Lindenberg of Philadelphia, PA, Forest Miller and Gracie Miller of Cary, and Gabe Lindenberg of Cary, NC; sister Didi Barrett (Keith) of Cameron Mills, NY and brother Don Taylor of Avoca, NY; and his nieces and nephews Lisa, David, Jason and Lauran. He is preceded in death by his father- Harry Taylor, mother-Betty Taylor, and sister- Judy Taylor. A service will be held at Apex United Methodist Church in Apex, NC on Saturday June 7, 2025 at 11 am. The family will receive visitors immediately following in the Crossroads area of the church.

Special thanks to the staff of Sanford Health and Rehabilitation and Amedisys Hospice for his incredible care. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Hurricane Helene Relief through The Western North Carolina conference of the Methodist Church. Office of Disaster Response, PO Box 2757, Huntersville, NC 28070 with memo Helene or thru the following link: https://nccumc.org/disaster/