Taylor Addison Cain

He was a graduate of the Sarasota Military Academy where he was a heavily decorated cadet and rose to a position of being 2nd in command over 900 cadets as the Command Sergeant Major. He represented the school in the drill team, orienteering competitions, and color guard. When one of his JROTC instructors was diagnosed with cancer, Taylor assisted Sergeant Major Richardson tirelessly with entering grades, generating tests, general organization, and class instruction while maintaining his own workload. He lead the SMA Color Guard for the opening dedication of the Sarasota National Cemetery. He was an Eagle Scout from Troop #23 completing the requirements for that highest rank in near record time. In recognition of his Eagle Scout achievement, he was presented with a US Flag that had been flown over the US Capital in his honor. He was awarded the Sons of the American Revolution for Outstanding Leadership in 2005 and 2008. He was a recipient of the Anne Frank Humanitarian Award from the Holocaust Museum in Tampa, FL, and had been honored with various community achievement awards too numerous to list here. He would nonchalantly append the final line on his resume as “67 miscellaneous awards covering academics, leadership, sports, and community service.” Achievement was like breathing to Taylor.

Taylor excelled academically. He attended the State College of Florida and studied Business and Finance. He devoured information about the world around him. He whizzed through sudoku books, loved brain teasers, or anything that helped him to sharpen his thinking skills. In recent months, he had developed an interest in competitive chess.

Taylor was adventurous. He was a certified scuba diver. He hiked in the Rockies. He fished. He spent months planning a “South Bound Through Hike” on the Appalachian Trail. He loved the outdoors, and was comfortable in scuba gear, or in hiking boots as well as on a motorcycle.

Taylor’s sense of humor was evident to all. In his early teen years, he honed his timing and presentation skills while working with a church theater troupe which produced a weekly, hour-long, Bible variety show for families known as KidzOwn Klubhouse. Those who knew Taylor always remarked about his quick wit and ability to inject humor into the mundane aspects of life. He loved shows with dry humor that accented the ironic such as “Superstore” and “The Office.” He would at times dress in costume and entertain the tourists on Saint Armands Circle or Siesta Village just for the sheer fun of it.

Taylor was passionate about work. Every place of his employment, in his short life, has noted his drive and ambition – in particular Dealer’s United, Michael’s on East, and Sam’s Club.

Taylor did most things in the biggest way – from trading cryptocurrency, to buying comic books by the pallet, to planning hiking trips of months-long durations, to working himself to physical excellence in the gym, to trading four wheels for two and discovering the true exhilaration was on just one wheel, to diving in Florida’s springs or the Keys, to working on the creation of induced, ramified palm trees for Florida’s landscape, to raising money and organizing volunteers to build an eagle aviary for The Wildlife Center of Venice, or to volunteering for years with judging and organization at the Fruitville Elementary School Science Fair – Taylor did it with his whole being.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by his sister, Andrea Coyle (Travis) of Broadway, VA, brothers Preston of Sarasota and Morgan (Whitney) of Honolulu, HI (Navy). He had a nephew and two nieces Bryan, AnneMarie, and Arielle Coyle. Additionally, he was loved by many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

We will all miss his zest for life, quick wit, and driving work ethic.