Leon Olson Taylor

Leon Olson Taylor passed peacefully to join his Lord and Savior on June 25 after a brief bout with pneumonia. Doting husband, caring father and loving grandfather, Leon was a long-time resident of Fredericksburg, Texas, where he was an active member of the First Baptist Church. He was interred at Memorial Oaks in Houston, Texas. Leon was married to his faithful companion Evaughn Taylor for 64 years. They had two sons: Mark Taylor of Austin, Texas and Larry Taylor of Houston, Texas, and two daughters-in-law: Tami Taylor and Laura Taylor. The loving couple have four grandchildren who are the light of their lives - Christine Taylor, Dean Taylor, Katherine Taylor, who is married to Patrick Cason, and Barrett Taylor. A former resident of Midland, Texas, Leon spent his life devoted to Christ. Along with several other business men and women, he was a co-founder of Vietnamese Bible, Inc., which was the first and only committee to translate the Bible into the modern-day Vietnamese language directly from Greek and Hebrew. Through the efforts of VBI, more than 2.5 million Bibles and New Testaments have been printed in Vietnamese, and distributed to Vietnamese in Vietnam, and around the world. He also built a national reputation for writing Bible study lessons for adults, "Life Studies." While living in Midland, Leon was a founding leader in the non-denominational Community Bible Study program in 1985. The Midland Men's class grew to be one of the largest in the nation, and is continuing to have a profound spiritual influence on the lives of Midland businessmen today. He and Evaughn were faithful members of First Baptist Church of Midland. Well done good and faithful servantGlory! Born in 1938 in Maxie, Louisiana, Leon was a United States military veteran having served aboard the USS Catamount during the Korean War. After leaving the Navy, he became a master machinist and spent the preponderance of his career at Big Spring High School and Midland College where he pioneered a degreed program in machine shop. The family requests that any memorial remembrances be a contribution to Vietnamese Bible, Inc. at P.O. Box 61, Midland, Texas 79702.