"Jeanne, I have been praying for you and your family yesterday and today. Thank you for sharing your dad's life through the obituary and video. He was a very active man with many interests! The first time I flew in a small plane was with your dad. I remember being in the cockpit with him and viewing the Indiana farmlands below - very cool!"
In loving memory of
Robert F. Taylor
May 14, 1924 - November 22, 2017
With a life that spanned nine decades, Robert Bob Taylor had a lengthy life resume. From a rural farm kid to becoming a teacher, farmer, pilot, artist, photographer, musician, and who had a strong Christian faith, Bob has left all of us with a special touch in different ways. With many achievements and accomplishments, Bob would admit that the greatest joy and reward to being a husband and father was becoming a grandfather.
On May 14, 1924, Russell F. and Beulah A. (Shroyer) Taylor were happy to announce the birth of their first born child, Robert Francis Taylor.For the first two years of his life, he grew up in a rental home before his parents moved to the homestead of the Taylor farm off State Road 14 in Jefferson Township of Whitley County, Indiana. Bobs great-grandparents established the farm that they moved to until he was seven years old. With the Great Depression affecting a lot of the country, Bobs parents moved to the southwest side of Ft. Wayne to live at The Tower, which was a service station and motel service to serve motorist off U.S. 24 where the current Plant Center is today. While living there, he worked in the local fields picking onions and mint and over 80 years later, he would be overlooking one of those fields at Coventry Meadows.
By the time he was 12, his parents moved back to Whitley County and he attended Jefferson Center High School and graduated with the Class of 1942. During his school years, he joined the high school band and traveled around competing in music competitions. In his senior year, Helen Byall, who was in her junior year, had a Sunshine Banquet to attend at the school and she asked Bob to go with her. The two continued dating and after he was a student at Purdue University, the two were married on July 28, 1946 at Jefferson Chapel United Methodist Church. Following the wedding, he moved Helen over to the Lafayette area as he finished up his degree and she got a job doing bookkeeping at Ross Gear.
He played the clarinet in Purdues Military Marching Band. He received his Bachelors degree in 1948 and a Masters degree in Agriculture Administration. After he graduated, Bob talked with Helen and they made the choice to move to North Webster as he took a teaching job for a few years before getting a job back in Whitley County. By 1954, they moved to the Taylor family farm.
Along with being a farmer, he was the Allen County Extension Agent, manager of the Allen County Co-op and a Loan Officer with Lincoln National Bank Agriculture. He was a member of Dunfee Missionary Church, the Experimental Aircraft Association, Lions Club in Arcola and had served on the Board of Directors at Bethel College. In 1958, Bob co-found the Farm Garden show in Arcola which would later grow in size and attendance to become Fort Waynes Home Garden Show that is held every winter at the Memorial Coliseum.
When WWII started, Bob wanted to fly fighter planes, but because of his bad eye sight and a heart condition, they would not allow it. With his love of flying, he would eventually obtain his private pilot license, owned several planes along with an ultralight, and placed a 1,950 turf landing strip on the east side of his farm house identified as the Homestead Airport, 29IN. Besides flying and taking his family up with him, he enjoyed drawing, painting and wood burning. Another beautiful canvas he could create on was landscaping. He designed the layout and landscaping for Bear Lake Church Camp, the landscaping for several area churches, and of course his farm house.
On his 60 acre farm, he also had planted orchards, gardens, and was a master gardener extraordinaire. He took great pride in his hard work and was proud to provide for his family. They canned the fruits and vegetables that they grew and picked to eat year round. The family raised strawberries and sweet corn to sell along the roadside. With the money they earned, they would use this to rent a cottage on Crystal Lake in Frankfort, Michigan every year and one of Bobs favorite memories was teaching his children to water ski.
Being musically gifted, he not only played the clarinet but he also played the banjo, harmonica and sang. He performed many music specials at Dunfee Missionary Church, where he also taught Sunday School. Bob also was known to be a great photographer and videographer. He loved being outdoors and nature and took countless hours of videoing nature and the beauty it has to offer.
Bob loved life all together. His biggest reward in life was the special joy that his grandchildren brought him. He loved each and every one of them. He was a very social and outgoing gentleman who loved to give back. He and Helen traveled a lot to not only visit their children as they moved away, but they also traveled around doing mission work and teaching estate planning for the Missionary Church denomination. He continued to give back to his community after retirement to substitute teach every day from the age of 65 till 75 at Homestead High School. With such a great personality, the teachers would ask for Bob to cover for them and on his 75th birthday, he even climbed the Environmental Centers climbing wall and impressed all the students.
After Bob lost his wife of 69 years on January 19, 2016, life was never the same for him. For the past 13 months he made Covington Meadows his new home and with the great staff there, he made the best of it. He spread warmth and delight there with not only his personality, but with sharing of his many works of art. On the morning of Wednesday, November 22, 2017, Bob would join Helen once again and needs no walker to help assist him walking and can fly without the use of an airplane.In Bobs words, Old pilots never die, they just lose their propellers.
Survivors include his children, Ed (Pat) Taylor, of Baraboo, Wisconsin, Jeanne Taylor, of Fort Wayne, Doug (Cindy) Taylor, of Lafayette, Dan Taylor, of Lafayette and Emily (Kurt) Boller, of Roanoke; ten grandchildren; and one great-grandson. Bob was preceded in death by his parents; wife; grandson, Daniel Boller; and sister, Nadean Zorger.
Visitation is 2-7 p.m. Monday, November 27, 2017 at DeMoney-Grimes, a Life Story Funeral Home, 600 Countryside Drive, Columbia City. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at Dunfee Missionary Church, 818 W County Line Rd N, Fort Wayne with visitation one hour prior to the funeral service. Pastor Dennis Rowe and Pastor Jerry Blanchard will be officiating. Burial will follow at Jefferson Chapel (Sand Bank) Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest beside his wife. Memorial gifts may be given in his memory to Bear Lake Church Camp. Visit www.demoneygrimes.com to send his family condolences online.
Tributes
"Bob was my chemistry and agriculture teacher at Coesse High School in the early 1950's. He had a big influence on my life, in preparing me for an aeronautical engineering degree from Purdue in 1959. I returned to Indiana in the year 2000, after working for years in California and Texas. Bob came to see me at my family farm in Union Township, where I now live and we reminisced about the past, and the many common interests we share. He was proud of his Purdue background, and told how he was honored to be designated as the band alumnus to beat Purdue's giant bass drum at homecoming games. I'm amazed at his many life accomplishments, and so glad the he came into my life."
" A SPATHIPHYLLUM was ordered on November 26, 2017 "
"Thank you, Dad, for the following:-sewing my baby doll's head back on when it broke off at age four-for working hard to provide well for your family and making the farm a beautiful place to live-for making sure I got to church every week and church camp every summer-for teaching me to water ski on Crystal Lake and the many good memories up in Northern Michigan -for giving me the opportunity to paint a wall mural on the side of the long shed--that would eventually launch my wall mural business-for taking me on airplane rides most every Sunday before church and giving a sneak preview of the glory and majesty of heaven-for teaching me how to plant seedlings and gardens, and plant trees and shrubs-for the surprise apple orchard for my 40th birthday-for going down to IU Med Center with me during a pregnancy and scared of the unknown/ and then for going down to Riley Children's with me-for loving all of my babies-for the many trips to Chain-O-Lakes: the bike rides and the fun times we had on our annual fall field trips-for the many hours of video recordings of the children-for the many talks we had this past year in your room at Coventry Meadows, in the dining room, in the van, at Bob Evans, at KFC, and at my houseYou were raised in a generation that didn't say, "I love you" a lot. But I always felt your love for me.As the saying goes: "It's not what you say. It's not what you do. It's how you made me feel."I have always felt loved by you.Sure, you had your moments of grumpiness when you wanted things to be perfect, but you instilled in me the pride of accomplishing a job well done. I even thank you for that, because I value excellent workmanship today because of it.Thank you, Dad, for everything.I brought the gray rocking chair to my house yesterday, and I will now sit and talk to my Heavenly Father when I'm sitting in it.I love you.Always.Emily Thank you for everything.I will always remember you."
"Thank you, Dad, for the following:-for sewing my baby doll's head back on when I was four-for working hard to provide financially for your family and making the farm a beautiful place to live-for the many airplane rides before church every Sunday--giving me a sneak peak into the glory and majesty of heaven-for making sure I got to church every Sunday and to church camp every summer-for making Bear Lake Church Camp a beautiful place for campers to get closer to God-for getting so excited over watching a mother bird feed her young, watching flowers bloom and gardens grow-for teaching me how to grow seedlings and plants, prune trees and shrubs, and the love of horticulture-for instilling in me the love of drawing and painting-for giving me the opportunity to paint a wall mural on the long shed during my teen years-for teaching me to water ski on Crystal Lake and the many memories you made with us in Northern Michigan-for helping me get my talent ready for the Junior Miss Pageant-for loving my babies so well and for video recording hours of footage of them-for going with me to IU Med Center and then later to Riley Children's when I was scared of the unknown-for planting a surprise apple orchard for my 40th birthday-for the annual fall field trips to Chain-O-Lakes: the bike rides and the many hours of fun-for the trip to Door County in the Tioga-for instilling in me the value of pursuing excellence--even though you may have been grumpy when I didn't meet your perfectionistic standards--I am grateful today that I value a job well done -for looking at my random iPhone pictures of what the kids are doing, what I'm painting, my plants, the dog . . . who will look at my pictures now?-for the privilege of spending time with you at Coventry Meadows this past year: the chats in your room and the dining room, in the van, at Bob Evans, at KFC-for making sure I had plenty of fruit this past year-and thank you especially for loving me all these yearsYou were raised in a generation that didn't openly express, "I love you," like folks do today. As the saying goes, "It's not what you say, it's not what you do, it is how you make me feel."I have always felt your love. I brought the gray rocking chair to my house yesterday. I will now sit in it when I spend time with my Heavenly Father. Thank you for loving me so well.I love you and will miss you.Always,EmilyP.S. Yesterday, Jeanne told me she found the cow's ear. Now the mystery is solved!"
"Dear Emily and Kurt,What a lovely man your father was, and how fully and richly he lived his life. Please accept our sincere condolences and we're sure that you and your family will carry him in your hearts always. Yours, Lisa and Charlie"
"Dear Emily and family,We are so sorry for the loss of your precious dad and grandpa .... what a wonderful legacy he leaves for all of you !! May God's wonderful Peace bless you during, and beyond, this time "
"My thoughts & prayers are with the entire Taylor family during this time of loss. I so enjoyed the conversations that I had with your father & grandfather. He will be missed by many but he is now reunited with the love of his life, your mother & grandmother."
"Bob has blessed my life in so many ways. I will miss him."
"May each of you find courage to face tomorrow as you rest in the knowledge that we truly care about each of your needs and that we will walk beside you in your journey of grief.Randy Grimes, Brett Gerber and the Staff of DeMoney-Grimes Funeral Home"