Retired District Chief Pat Taylor Passes Away - Obituary
Sorry I was a little late on this one. However the memorial service is tomorrow.
Phillip A. (Pat) Taylor, 63, of Roanoke County, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, August 7, 2007. Pat was born on August 8, 1943, the son of the late James Henry and Ruby Spradlin Taylor. Pat was predeceased by his first wife, Dianne Helms Taylor. His second marriage to Anna Charlton Taylor ended in divorce.
Pat is survived by his brother, Robert and fianc�e, Corky, of Frederick, Md.; his nephew, Christopher and wife, Laura; and grandniece and grandnephew, Abigail and Carson, of Winchester, Va. The following is as much a memorial recollection as an obituary. Any errors or omissions should be blamed on his brother Pat certainly would have.
Pat grew up on Hollins Road where he attended the Hollins Road Church of the Brethren. The Reverend J. Weldon Meyers was his pastor. His participation in the church sponsored Boy Scout troop, where Bill Craft was his scout leader, was his favorite activity. Thank you Weldon and Bill.
After high school, Pat joined the U.S. Army Reserve serving from 1964 until his honorable discharge in 1970. Thank you, Col. Gore. After completing his initial active duty in 1965, Pat joined the City of Roanoke Fire Department. Firefighting was truly Pat's professional passion. His competence and dedication resulted in the achievement of the position of Battalion Fire Chief by the time he retired in 1999. Thank you Pete Smith, Gary Clark, Richard Patterson, and Pete Kandas.
Pat's love of motorcycles started with Japanese cycles, moved to British cycles, and finally culminated in Harley Davidson's. Late in life Pat seemed to have forgotten that he had ever rode anything but a Hog. Thank you Barry Garst, Jerry Beckner, and Matt Patterson.
Pat's love of sports cars did not start with Porsches, but quickly went in that direction. He not only loved to drive the cars, but he and close friends rebuilt old Porsches, and traveled many miles to "swap meets" in order to obtain original parts. Thank you Jack Simmons and Keith Rowe.
Before cell phones, if you needed to reach Pat and he was not at home, your best chance of catching up with him was to head to the nearest gun show. His collection pretty much spanned the history of this nation. Thank you, Frank Koehler.
In the early 60's, Pat enjoyed traveling to a small race track near Danville, Va. In the 90's this race track reemerged as Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Some of his fondest memories of the past decade were of VIR. Thank you, Larry and Trey Sullivan.
From 1994 on, Pat spent many weeks at the Outer Banks in N.C. Beach cottages provided a wonderful environment for gourmet meals and gorgeous sunsets and a very surreal experience the week of September 11, 2001. Thank you Anna Charlton, Nancy Glasscock, Corky Sullivan, and Charlie.
Always the wine connoisseur, Pat especially enjoyed the wine tasting at Bernard's Landing and Chateau Morrisette. Thank you Gary Shrader and Lou Bradley.
Pat Taylor's family will receive friends on Friday, September 7, 2007 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Oakey's South Chapel on Brambleton Avenue. A memorial service will be conducted on Saturday, September 8, 2007 at 12 Noon at Oakey's South Chapel, 989-3131.
Published in the Roanoke Times on 9/2/2007.
1 comment:
Tattoo was a good guy. Although we did not see eye-to-eye on many subjects, I had to admire the mans' passion. When he was into something, it would never be halfway, and that was in Harleys, cars, firefighting, or the "fruit of the vine". I was glad to see Pat one evening in downtown Roanoke. He was on the fourth floor of the "Center in the Square" parking garage, looking over the wall onto Campbell Avenue. We were both attending the "Affair in the Square" event that evening. I shouted at him to say "Hi", and he smiled and waved me over to talk to him. We stood there for a good, long time, talking about the fire department, cars, and whatever else came up. That night, all of our previous disagreements went away, as we laughed and enjoyed the time. Finally, his date for the evening arrived, and we smiled, shook hands, and went our separate ways. That was the last time I saw him. I was glad that we were able to get past our differences and just be ourselves. I am so glad that it is how I remember "Tattoo".
Mike Overacker
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