Donald Steele Taylor

Donald Steele Taylor was born August 13th, 1930 at home in Annapolis, MD where he lived and worked his entire life. As a young boy he worked alongside his father, John M Taylor Sr as the local Funeral Director. In the 1960’s he and his brothers, John Jr (Jack) and Robert (both now deceased) took over the business, John M Taylor and Sons Funeral Home. The business was sold in 1992, however Don continued to work at the Funeral Home giving comfort and compassion to those in need well into his eighties. Because of his many years working with families in Annapolis, Don was considered a local historian. He had a gift for remembering generations of family histories. He took great pride and pleasure in being an Annapolitan and Annapolis businessman, and believed in giving back and serving the community.

He and his late wife Blanche were Belcher Society Members giving financial support to Anne Arundel Medical Center for many years. He was a man of faith and an active lifelong member of St Anne’s Episcopal Church. He joined the Annapolis Yacht Club in 1947, and was an active member for decades, celebrating his 93 birthday at the Club. In 1952 he joined the Annapolis Power Squadron and hosted rendezvous at his home on the Severn River. He was active in The Annapolis Rotary Club since 1962. He rarely missed a meeting and served as club president in 1968 to 1969 and is a Paul Harris Fellow. You could always find Don serving beer at the annual Rotary Crab Feast. He joined The Annapolis Elks Club in 1970 and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Farmers National Bank the same year. He was on the board until 2002. Don was also a member of The Annapolis Moose Lodge where he frequently enjoyed Friday nights of music and dancing. As a member of The New Providence Club, he enjoyed listening to war stories as told by retired service members. He was also a member of the Annapolitan Club.

Don was a vibrant, happy man, and an ardent golfer. He loved working in his yard, took great pride in his vegetable garden and propagating azaleas and boxwoods. He enjoyed painting and building bird houses. Don was a skilled crabber, and during the summer months you could often find him crabbing on his pier on the Severn River. He enjoyed passing his passion on to his family and grandchildren, and many lively poolside crab feasts were held at their home. He always had a whistle on his lips and a song in his heart and a Swiss Army knife in his pocket. He loved a good joke, could tell a good joke, and was always the first and last on the dance floor.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Blanche Colbert Taylor and daughter Sharon Graefe Lyons. He is Survived by his daughters, Patty Graefe Sansbury (Jim) of Annapolis, Marion Taylor May (Tim Sparrow) of Florida, 6 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren, nephews and cousins.

A visitation for Donald will be held Sunday, October 29, 2023 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 pm at John M. Taylor Funeral Home, 147 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, MD 21401. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, October 30, 2023 at 10 AM at Trinity United Methodist Church 1300 West Street, Annapolis, MD, 21401. Interment Saint Anne Cemetery, West Washington Street and Northwest Street Annapolis, MD 21401.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Hospice of the Chesapeake 90 Ritchie Highway Pasadena, Maryland 21122 https://www.hospicechesapeake.org/giving/donate-now/

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared on this website for the Taylor family.

Donald S. ‘Donnie’ Taylor, a retired funeral director and former owner of the John M. Taylor Funeral Home in Annapolis, dies

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

Baltimore Sun

Published: Oct 31, 2023

Donald S. “Donnie” Taylor was a longtime board member of Farmers National Bank.

Donald S. “Donnie” Taylor, a retired funeral director and former owner of the John M. Taylor Funeral Home in Anne Arundel County, died Oct. 20 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at Ginger Cove retirement community in Parole. The lifelong Annapolitan was 93.

“Donnie was a worker who loved to help others,” said Myelin P. Klobert, who has worked as a funeral director for the John M. Taylor Funeral Home since 2009. “He was hilarious and I loved working with him.”

Donald Steele Taylor, son of John M. Taylor Sr., a funeral home owner, and Arvilla Sommers Taylor, a homemaker, was born at home in Annapolis.

As a young boy, he worked alongside his father in the Duke of Gloucester Street funeral home whose roots date to the 1800s when James S. Taylor, an Annapolis cabinetmaker, would close his shop for several days to assist his relative Daniel Caulk in conducting funerals.

James S. Taylor took over the business after Mr. Caulk died in 1862, and established the John M. Taylor funeral home on the Annapolis waterfront at 53 Fleet St.

The funeral home later moved to its current location on Duke of Gloucester Street next to St. Mary’s Church.

“The funeral home has always had a relationship and history with the Naval Academy,” Mr. Klobert said. “They assisted when John Paul Jones was brought back from France.”

The American Revolutionary War commodore and founder of the U.S. Navy, who was 45 when he died in Paris in 1792, was interred in the St. Louis Cemetery in Paris. In 1905, his body was exhumed and sent to Annapolis aboard the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn.

In 1906, with assistance from the John M. Taylor Funeral Home, Jones’ remains were entombed in Bancroft Hall, on the grounds of the Naval Academy, in a ceremony that was presided over by President Theodore R. Roosevelt.

In 1913, his body was reinterred and placed in a sarcophagus in the Naval Academy Chapel.

According to a Taylor family member who was interviewed for a 1992 Sun article, the Taylor Funeral Home has “buried the majority of officers that are buried in the Naval Academy Cemetery.”

James S. Taylor died in 1919 and his three sons, John M. Taylor Sr., Raymond Taylor and Daniel Taylor, took over the business. John M. Taylor later became sole owner of the funeral home.

After graduating from Annapolis High School, Donald S. Taylor entered the American Academy of Embalming and Mortuary Research in New York City, now the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service, from which he graduated in 1950.

Mr. Taylor then joined his father and two brothers, John M. “Jack” Taylor Jr. and Robert Taylor, both now deceased, in the funeral home business, and in the 1960s, took over its operation.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter came to Annapolis to attend the funeral of an academy classmate.

“It was exciting to see the president come to your front door,” Donald Taylor said in a 1992 Sun interview. “He introduced himself to me and my wife and stayed for an hour.”

Even though the business was sold in 1992, Mr. Taylor remained on its staff, and continued working well into his 80s.

“He was always friendly, very sharp, always had a joke, and wanted to help,” said Kim Wiley, the funeral home’s business manager. “He was a very compassionate man who made families feel like they were old friends.”

“He taught me a valuable lesson. He always said, ‘Concentrate on the basics and don’t stress out about what you can’t control,’” Mr. Klobert said.

“It’s nice to keep on going,” Mr. Taylor said in the 1992 Sun interview. “People just keep coming back as long as they are satisfied. We are still serving generations that my grandfather [James S. Taylor] took care of. I think you find in the funeral business that most people have grown up in it.”

A colorful and well-known figure in Annapolis, Mr. Taylor had gained a well-earned reputation for being something of a local historian based on his many years of working with families, and had the ability to remember generations of family histories.

“He was like Google, he knew so much,” Mr. Klobert said. “He remembered where people were interred. He knew stuff you can’t find in the internet.”

Mr. Taylor and his wife, Blanche Colbert, whom he married in 1955, were active in the Annapolis community. They were for years members of the Belcher Society, which financially supported the Anne Arundel Medical Center.

From 1970 to 2002, Mr. Taylor was a board member of Farmers National Bank.

He had been a member of the Annapolis Rotary Club since 1962, and had served as its president in 1968 and 1969. He was also a member of the Annapolis Elks Club and Moose Lodge where he enjoyed listening to music and dancing.

He was a member of the New Providence Club, the Annapolitan Club, the Annapolis Yacht Club and the Annapolis Power Squadron, and hosted many club events at his home overlooking the Severn River.

He was a lifelong member of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis.

In addition to boating and golf, Mr. Taylor enjoyed presiding over a large vegetable garden and propagating azaleas and boxwoods. He also liked to paint and build birdhouses.

He was also a “skilled crabber,” family members said, and enjoyed hosting poolside crab feasts for family and friends at his home.

His wife died in 2010.

Funeral services were held Monday at Trinity United Methodist Church in Annapolis.

Mr. Taylor is survived by two daughters, Patty Graefe Sansbury of Annapolis, and Marion Taylor May of Bradenton, Florida; six grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Sharon Graefe Lyons, died this year.