Paul Taylor

He leaves behind his dear wife of almost 21 years, sweet Helen, along with his three children - Spring Taylor-Santos, Andrew Taylor and Lillian Taylor McRae, and three grandchildren - Will, Taylor and Caroline Santos. By marriage he also leaves behind three children - Linda Stevens, Susan Burns and John Parks, plus five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Paul was preceded in death by his wife of nearly 45 years, Peggy, mother of their three children.

Paul was the last child of six, born to John and Marcia Taylor, in Monrovia, Alabama, where the family farmed until moving to Huntsville to run Taylor Groceries, where Paul entertained tarantulas brought in with the bananas, learned banana and cough drop jingles and gained a distaste for all things grocery. He also began a longstanding passion for airplanes which led him from winning flying competitions with gas-engine balsa-wood models to the first radar navigation program as lead navigator during WWII.

Paul received the Army Air Corps Distinguished Flying cross for his WWII service. Having promised God he would serve Him in mid air after the pilot of their B17 was killed, Paul survived to finish his 52 European combat missions and stuck to his oath through the very end.

Raised and saved as a Southern Baptist, he and Peggy joined Westminster Presbyterian church in 1956 where Paul served as deacon, elder m, Clerk of Session and Sunday School teacher through the decades. He and Helen attended when they could.

He was the first member of his family to graduate from college, achieving a a bachelors of chemical engineering in 1949 from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).

Paul was proud of his military service, in WWII and the Korean conflict, and he continued his military career in the US Air Force Reserve as Director of Research and Development of the Air Force Materials Laboratory at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, retiring at Lieutenant Colonel in 1973.

A short smelly career with Union Bag and Paper in Savannah lead to the opportunity to work for DuPont in Memphis where the lions from the nearby zoo interrupted their sleep, then Niagara Falls where Paul spent two years in his overcoat. He worked at Chemstrand/Monsanto for 30 years, retiring early in his final role of Manager of Technology Operations, then began his final career at Boeing at age 60, retiring after eight years to tend to Peggy's health needs.

He began a post-retirement career of refurbishing and selling bargain computers, and continued well into his 80s, until his eyesight failed.

Always a helluva helluva helluva helluva hell of an engineer, Paul served 17 years as governor appointed member of the state engineering board, and the office of president for the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, receiving the Distinguished Service Award with Special Commendation in 1995. He was honored as an inductee to the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1997. Paul was also a fellow with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a member of various Engineering Societies, Mensa International and compadre to his Lunch Bunch computer buddies.

His family is most proud of the way he applied A&D ointment and Band-Aids, checked for fevers with his strong hand on hot tummies, gave a tall man’s view to little ones from shoulder height, set up cereal bowls in the morning, made chore lists, arranged family reunions, and listened to the Metropolitan Opera on the radio while tinkering with cars, lawn mowers, televisions and bicycles.

He always stressed education and was proud that all three of his children are college graduates. He taught hard work, honesty, integrity, and respect to everyone regardless of their race or stature, readily shaking hands when meeting someone new and using 'sir' or 'm'am'.

Always ready with a joke or four (sometimes bawdy), Paul attended Rotary with perfect attendance for 28 years.

He is assumed to have zoomed to his first service at the Church Triumphant in his Cadillac, with a computer or two and some strong coffee to share, along with several of his most recent favorite phrases: "Happy Day! Wonderful! Alright! I'm very blessed! Is that so?" and "Things are lookin' up!"

The funeral will be held Thursday, November 5 at Roselawn Funeral Home; viewing at 10:00 a.m., service at 11:00 a.m.. In lieu of flowers, donations to Hospice of the Valley are greatly appreciated.

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My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon.

Chinese Proverb