Thomas Ewing Taylor

May 3, 1934 – May 31, 2023

Thomas E. Taylor, affectionately known as Tom, was born on May 3, 1934, in Malvern, Arkansas, to his proud parents J. Hilmon and H. Blanche Taylor and was the youngest of five siblings.

Tom attended the University of Arkansas, where he pursued his passion for civil engineering. In 1956, he proudly graduated with his degree.

On September 1, 1956, Tom married the love of his life, Peggy, and their union was nothing short of extraordinary. Together, they shared a bond that was an inspiration to all who knew them.

Tom served in the Army, in San Francisco for 2 years.

A true southern gentleman, Tom held unwavering values. His love for God, family, and community was evident in every aspect of his life. He cherished the moments spent with his loved ones, and his greatest joy came from traveling the world alongside his family, creating lifelong memories.

Thomas E. Taylor leaves behind a legacy that will forever be treasured by those who were blessed to know him. He is survived by his wife, Peggy, his loving daughters Janna (Jeff) and Jennifer (CJ), and his caring son, Steve (Nancy). Tom’s presence will continue to be felt through the lives of his eight grandchildren and ten great grandchildren, who were the pride and joy of his heart.

In our hearts, Tom will forever remain a beacon of love, kindness, and integrity. May his soul find eternal peace as his memory lives on in the hearts of those who loved him.

Tom's Prayer for You

Minister well to those who are losing me, O Lord. Soon I fly to the joy of your presence, where there will be neither tears nor sorrow, only an incomprehensible completeness and wellspring of all delight; but these I love will remain and will carry the burden of loss.

Draw them therefore into closer community, Father, nearer one another in love, and in purpose and in the unity of your Spirit.

May their grief over my dying carry in it fierce seeds of eternal hope that, watered by their tears, will bloom into a thousand living expressions of your eternal kingdom made visible in the world.

Indeed, if I might leave a legacy, O Lord, let it be this: that all manifestations of your love ever extended through me in word or deed, would, by the movement and promptings of your Spirit, continue to shape the hearts and beliefs and the purposes of those I loved and served in this life, unto the end that they might become ever more Christ-like lovers of your people and your world. And so may the fellowship of those who assemble to grieve my passing become a sharing of sorrow’s burdens, and a celebration of your faithfulness in my life, and still more a warm recollection of the gifts we were ever intended to be to one another.

If it please you, O Lord, let my leaving be as the fanning of a holy flame, encouraging them to foster richer and deeper relationships one with another, sensing anew how precious and brief are each of the hours they share in this journey.

Do not let these who love me be burdened by a sadness that leads to despair, O God. Instead let them hold in my absence a homesick ache that points ever truer toward eternity.

Now use my remaining days, O Christ, and then use my death, and after my death use the remembrance of my life and the sorrows and joys that accompany such memory, to accomplish your better purposes in the lives of those who have loved me.

Be gentle with them.

Be merciful.

Br gracious.

Be sufficient.

Be tender.

Be strong.

Be their sanctuary, their refuge, their comforter, their king.

You, O Christ, are the Great Shepherd.

Shepherd now these your precious people.

Shepherd them through this approaching vale of sorrow.

Shepherd them unto firmer hopes.

Shepherd them unto greater glories.

Shepherd them unto fuller joys.

Amen.