Watson Robbins Taylor, 96, legendary Montgomery business leader, community servant and sportsman and a long-time resident of Letohatchee, died peacefully and surrounded by his loved ones at the family home Sunday, October 3.
A veteran of World War II, Taylor served on the island of Eniwetok in the South Pacific during the closing days of the conflict. After returning stateside, Taylor graduated from the University of Alabama where he was a member of ODK and the Kappa Alpha Order. He later took the reins of his family business and grew it into one of the nation’s largest commercial roofing concerns.
He was the quintessential businessman from a young age, going to work as a sportswriter for the Montgomery Advertiser at 16. Saturdays after work he played clarinet and tenor sax with local swing bands for an extra $10.
Taylor was preceded in death by his loving bride of 65 years, Ernestine Jenkins Taylor, his daughter, Lucinda Bolling Taylor, and his parents, Henry Watson “Charlie” Taylor and Helen Robbins Taylor.
Graveside services will be conducted Friday, October 8, at noon at Letohatchee Cemetery.
Survivors include a daughter, Jane Taylor Albright of Montgomery; two sons: Watson Robbins Taylor Jr., of Rosemary Beach, Florida and George Lewis “Pete” Taylor and his wife, Caroline, of Montgomery; eight grandchildren: Philip Allen Sellers II, Dr. Thomas Rutherford Sellers, Watson Robbins Taylor III, Davis Denson Taylor, Caroline Davis Taylor, George Lewis “Pete” Taylor Jr., Helen Wallace Taylor and Walter Turner Taylor and five great-grandchildren.
Robbins Taylor’s rise to prominence in the business community – he served as chairman of Union Bank & Trust and on the board of Energen Corp. – coincided with his desire to not only serve his community but to shape its future direction. In 1965, he spearheaded the 10-day Billy Graham Crusade at Cramton Bowl, which for the first time brought integrated religious services to Montgomery on a large scale. Two years later, it was Taylor who formed the group that began lobbying for a new exit off I-85, which allowed for the construction of Auburn University at Montgomery. The University Center at AUM is named for Taylor.
Other than Ernestine, his great love was hunting with friends and family the quail and turkey that abound in the Letohatchee woods and he was as comfortable in a saddle as in any executive chair.
“Unless you’ve ridden over those rolling Alabama hills at dawn, with that sweet ‘dawn scent’ in your nostrils, a good horse beneath you, a congenial companion beside you and splendid dogs ahead, I claim you’ve missed a thrill.” From the book, Dog Stories, by Florence S. Jenkins
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Leak-MC.com for the Taylor family.
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