Steve Warren Taylor, one of God’s kindest souls, went home to the Lord on Sunday, March 5, 2023, after a lengthy illness. He passed away peacefully with his wife Rosalie by his side knowing he was loved. Steve was born in Russellville, Alabama, on November 23, 1948, and at the time was the largest baby on record born in Franklin County, weighing in at 13-1/2 lbs. Steve was a graduate of S. R. Butler High School in Huntsville, class of 1967. He was active in Student Government, Key Club, and lettered in basketball. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in Business Administration in 1973 where he was a member of the UAH Rowing Team and active in club rowing. Steve went on to obtain a Master of Science in Systems Management from Florida Institute of Technology in 1982. He worked summers during high school and college at Teledyne Brown Engineering before beginning a full-time career there with the Apollo Program. He later held positions at AC Electronics and Service Corporation International (SCI). Steve worked for The Boeing Company as a Logistics Engineer from 1981 until his retirement in 2019. He was proud to have worked on the Space Station Program and later Boeing’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system serving the US Missile Defense System. Steve was an active member of the University of Alabama in Huntsville Alumni Association and served as its president in 1983 and 1984.
Steve will be remembered as a soft-spoken, gentle, generous man who lived with decency and integrity. He loved golf, college basketball, and was a lifelong University of Alabama football fan. Steve’s passion project was the restoration of his 1953 MG TD, an English body-on-frame open two-seater sports car. He had a bone-dry wit and a special way with animals, especially his beloved dogs. In his modest, quiet way, Steve tried to make a difference wherever he could.
Steve was preceded in death by his cherished parents, Donnis Elbert Taylor and Lois Estelle Wylie Taylor. He is survived by his devoted wife Rosalie Boyd Taylor; his sister Linda Kay Taylor, his niece Ashley Hasbrouck Pendergrass (Benjamin), as well as aunts, uncles and cousins whom he loved very much.
Steve was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease in 2006 and received a kidney transplant in 2013. It is fitting that this unfailingly generous man was able to receive this most generous gift – the gift of life. Steve and Rosy are forever grateful to Steve’s donor and his donor’s family for the selfless and courageous act that gave Steve nearly 10 more years of life. In addition, they are indebted to Steve’s medical care teams in Huntsville, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as well as the many caring and concerned friends, known and not known, who helped carry them through their 17-year journey.
A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 2:00 PM at Mountain Home Cemetery, 100 Mt. Home Church Road, Spruce Pine, AL. Coordinates to Mountain Home Cemetery are as follows: 34.43810, -87.88000. A Celebration of Life is planned for June, details to follow.
Memorials may be made in his memory to the Greater Huntsville Humane Society, 2812 Johnson Road SW, Suite B, Huntsville, AL 35805, or to Donate Life, 5516 Falmouth Street, Suite 302, Richmond, VA 23230.
