Roy Dail Taylor, D.Min., 86, on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, took up new residence in the presence of his beloved Savior! His last days in his weak and dusty vessel of clay were spent in the comfort of his home, and in the loving presence of his wife and his two youngest daughters.
Roy was born October 23, 1934 the son of Laurie and Calla Lily Tripp Taylor in Vanceboro, NC. He is survived by his wife Carol Posey Taylor, and three daughters: Deborah Hollie of Roanoke, VA; Pamela T. Mangum and her husband Willie of Charlotte, NC; and Melinda Vest of Greenville, SC. Also surviving are grandson Robert Michael Donald, his wife Erica, and their two children (Roy’s great grandchildren!) Rebekah and Reagan; and grandson Michael Dail Hollie and Amber, and their daughter (one more great grand!) Alice Mia Faith.
From his (one-time) small hometown of Greenville, NC to his final earthly home of Taylors, SC, Roy served his Savior and Lord for forty-five years as pastor to five congregations, bringing with him a love and sense of caring for others that endeared him to each church family. He retired from the ministry in 2004.
In high school Roy was elected Student Body President and named by his classmates as the “Most Likely to Succeed!” From there, Roy received a full scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he majored in English with a minor in Latin, served as Vice President of the YMCA, and was a member of the UNC Debating Society. Roy was Vice President of the Kiwanis Club, member of the Lions Club and Rotary Club. He was twice elected to the Presbyterian Church General Assembly.
In all this activity and accolade, one sees the influence of God, preparing Roy for a life of ministry and service. Rev. Roy D. Taylor, D.Min., approached life and ministry with the fullest sense of wonder and joy available to genuine, childlike faith in the accomplished work of Jesus!
Roy understood both the promise and the calling of Jesus that “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Roy knew what C.S. Lewis called “The Weight of Glory,” which is “…to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations…There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”
“Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning.”
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 08, 2021 at 2:00 PM at Mackey Funerals & Cremations at Woodlawn Memorial Park, 1 Pine Knoll Dr., Greenville, SC. At the request of the family, please do not send flowers, instead please give generously in his memory to one of the charities listed below.
Miracle Hill Ministries, 490 S. Pleasantburg, Dr., Greenville, SC 29607, Salvation Army, 417 Rutherford St., Greenville, SC, Rick Via Ministries World Reach Partnership, PO Box 582, Blue Ridge, VA 26064, Samaritan's Purse, PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607 or Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201, 1st Presbyterian Church of Greenville Building Fund, 200 W Washington St, Greenville, SC 29601.
