Henry TAYLOR Jr.

TAYLOR, Henry Jr., of Louisa, died Saturday, March 26, 2011. Born in Richmond on March 26, 1928, he was the son of Henry and Isabel Taylor of Richmond. Mr. Taylor graduated from St. Christopher's School in 1946 and the University of Virginia with a Commerce degree in 1950. After serving in the U.S. Army Seventh Infantry Division in the Korean War, he worked in the construction industry in Richmond for nearly four decades, retiring in 1994 as president of Taylor & Parrish Construction Inc. He moved to his family's Louisa County home, Westend Farm. Mr. Taylor was drafted into the Army in 1950 and served in Korea from 1952 to 1953 in the Seventh Infantry Division and as liaison to Seventh Republic of Korea Division. He saw action in the Korean War in the battles of Triangle Hill, Old Baldy and Pork Chop Hill. Wounded on Pork Chop Hill, he received the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, a Combat Infantry Badge and the Chung Mu Medal from the Korean government. He was discharged after the war as a first lieutenant. Mr. Taylor worked from 1953 to 1957 at D.C. Fitzgerald Co. in Richmond. He then worked at Taylor & Parrish from 1957 to 1994, retiring as president. His projects included Cloverleaf and Regency Square malls, Charlottesville Fashion Square, the Philip Morris tobacco factory in Hopewell, the Virginia Historical Society and Children's Hospital of Richmond. He was president of the Associated General Contractors of Virginia, as well as the Richmond district of the AGC. He also was president of the Virginia Association for Federal Contractors and was a director of the Builders' Exchange Association of Virginia. He was a member of the Richmond Building Code Appeals Board and was chairman and board member of Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia. Mr. Taylor was an avid outdoorsman. For years he, his family and friends fished the Chesapeake Bay for bluefish on his 36-foot Pacemaker, the Mal de Tete. He also fished freshwater ponds and was a member of the Custis Pond fishing association in King William County. Since childhood, Mr. Taylor hunted quail, dove and ducks in Virginia and Maryland. He received an award from Quail Unlimited for improving the habitat for Bobwhite Quail on his farm. He farmed quality hay for horses and twice won a blue ribbon for best hay at the Virginia State Fair. He actively managed timber on his farm, and worked to manage development in the historic Green Springs area of Louisa. On retirement, Mr. Taylor undertook an authentic restoration of his family's 1849 home in Louisa. The house is on the National Register of Historical Places. Mr. Taylor was involved in civic and religious organizations in Richmond and Louisa. He was a member of the vestry at St. James's Episcopal Church in Richmond and Christ Church, Gordonsville. He was president and member of the board of Roslyn Conference and Retreat Center. He was president and a member of the boards of Camp Waynoka (YMCA) and the Richmond Cerebral Palsy Center. He is survived by his wife, Claire Taylor; two sons, Henry Taylor III of Columbia, S.C., and George Sheldon Taylor of Atlanta; his sister, Alice Taylor Spilman of Richmond; his brother, George W.B. Taylor of Wilmington, N.C.; and four grandchildren, Sheldon and Elizabeth Taylor of Atlanta, Catherine Ann and Henry Taylor of Columbia. His funeral service will be held at St. John's Chapel on Wednesday, March 30, at 3 p.m. The chapel is located near the intersection of Route 640 (East Jack Jewett Road) and Route 617 (East Green Springs Road) in the Green Springs area of Louisa County. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Central Virginia Chapter of Quail Unlimited at P.O. Box 147, Bumpass, Va. 23024. Checks should be made out to "Quail Unlimited -CVCQU."
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.