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Royal R. Taylor
Colonel, U.S. Army
'Real gentleman' Royal Taylor dies
By Ramsey Campbell OF THE SENTINEL STAFF
EUSTIS Royal Taylor, a retired U.S. Army colonel and a real estate agent, was remembered by colleagues Wednesday as an honest professional who had a distinguished military career.
Taylor, of Eustis, died Tuesday after a long illness. He was 73.
In 1974, Taylor joined Glenn Tyre in founding a well-known local real estate company, Tyre and Taylor Realty.
"He was a real gentleman an ethical person, very professional," Tyre said Wednesday.
Taylor had worked for several other real estate companies in the area before the two formed their own, Tyre said. Health problems had kept Taylor from being active in the business recently, Tyre said.
A native of Leary, Ga., Taylor moved to Central Florida in 1957. He had retired the previous year after more than 30 years in the military. He was stationed at MacDill Air Force
Base in Florida when he retired.
Taylor's military career, which began in
Please see TAYLOR, 6
Longtime real estate agent Royal Taylor dies
TAYLOR from 1
1935, included action in World War II and the Korean War. He was a
paratrooper with the 508th Parachute Infantry and was among the first to
land in France on D-Day. Taylor was awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and two Bronze Star medals,
among other military honors.
In the late 1950s, he was group commander in the 82nd Airborne
Division and in 1960 was director of plans and operations for Support
Support Operations Task Force Europe.
He was a member of First Baptist Church, Eustis.
Survivors include his wife, Edna Sikes Taylor; three sons, Lt. Col.
Ronald, Tel Aviv, Israel; Raynard, Eustis, and Timothy, Richmond, Va.;
brother, Neal, Jacksonville; sisters, Evelyn Jackley, Benton, Ark.;
India Meinelt, DeLand, and Snookie Blizzard, Brooksville; and five
grandchildren.
Visiting hours are 6 to 8 p.m. today at Harden-Pauli Funeral Home
in Eustis. Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Harden-Pauli Chapel
with the Rev. Bill Boyd and the Rev. E. Wayne Minor officiating.
Interment will be at Greenwood Cemetery in Eustis. In lieu of flowers,
the family asks that contributions be made to Hospice of Lake and Sumter
counties. |
[courtesy of Tom & Gloria Smith]
Grave
marker for Royal R. Taylor in Greenwood Cemetery, Eustis (Lake county),
Florida
Royal enlisted in the Army on 12 March
1936.
He married Edna Loree Sikes
[1922-2015] in Russell, Alabama on 5 April 1941.
On 4 September 1942, upon completion
of OCS. Royal was commissioned as a 2nd Lt.
1st Lt Taylor was transferred to, and
assumed command of, Company B, 508th PIR on 20 October 1942.
Capt Taylor suffered a leg wound on
the jump into Normandy and had to stay at the Ste Mere Eglise Aid
Station. He put Lt Homer Jones in command.
Royal swapped his captain's bars for
the gold oak leaf of a major on 26 November 1944.
On 15 June 1946 Maj Taylor was awarded
the French Croix de Guerre with Gold Star for exceptional wartime
services during operations in the Liberation of France.
Major Taylor became Lt Col Taylor on 1
Jul 1965 and then achieved a full colonel rank on 15 Jul 1968. |
