Charles Henry Taylor III

A freelance writer, journalist and community leader, Charles H. Taylor III passed away suddenly and painlessly early Saturday morning, Jan. 7, from a blood clot due to COVID-19 infection. The impact of Mr. Taylor's life has been made clear in the days since his passing was announced, as friends, colleagues and family have celebrated his compassion, intelligence, humor and warmth.

Mr. Taylor was born Jan. 16, 1952 in Portsmouth. As a student in the then-segregated Portsmouth Public School system, he graduated from I.C. Norcom High School in 1970 as class salutatorian. Accepted into several universities, Mr. Taylor spent the next three and a half years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he took coursework in Urban Planning. He later completed his bachelor's degree in organizational management at the former Saint Paul's College in Lawrenceville.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Taylor applied his many skills to a series of media-related jobs and services. Starting out as a radio news reporter, he went on to host a classical music program and then became a reporter for Richmond Newspapers Inc. He later worked as a corporate communications representative and media and community relations manager for Dominion Power in both Norfolk and Richmond. During this time, he was a member of and served as president of Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals, an affiliate chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Mr. Taylor moved to the Washington, DC area in 2001 to work as a senior communications representative for the Pepco power company, periodically appearing on local TV stations to report on blackouts and exploding manhole covers. He later worked as a media relations manager for Arlington County government and, for 11 years, as a senior staff writer for the National Association of Counties. He was honored by the National Association of Government Communicators and the International Association of Business Communicators in 2004.

Outside his professional career, Charles met Jim Bogden through the social group Black and White Men Together in 2001. As a couple they enjoyed square dancing with DC Lambda Squares; regularly attended theater, comedy, opera, and classical music performances; and traveled to Paris, Nottingham in England, Malta and Cuba.

Upon retiring in 2017, Messrs. Taylor and Bogden sold their 1862 townhouse in Washington, DC and moved to Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore. There Mr. Taylor was a member of the Social Action for Racial Justice Committee and served on the boards of the Kent Cultural Alliance, the Sultana Education Foundation and the Mid-Shore Community Foundation.

An avid fan of opera and the symphony, Mr. Taylor was serving on the National Music Festival board of directors as its chair at the time of his death, having previously served as its vice chair.

Mr. Taylor had come out of retirement last year to work with the Richmond Free Press as a freelance reporter and editor. An inveterate wordsmith, he was a moderator of the international New York Times Spelling Bee Facebook group.

Mr. Taylor is predeceased by his father Charles H. Taylor, Jr., mother Viola Holland Taylor and step-mother Almina Taylor. He is survived by Mr. Bogden, his sisters Angela Taylor Bunch, Barbara Taylor Spruill (Tyrone), nephew Jeremy Bunch, nieces Nicole Spruill, Jessica Bunch, Dionne Spruill and Dana Spruill, grandnieces Charleigh Bunch and Naomi Spruill, and two sweet Labradoodles, Mina and Kashi.

A memorial service is slated for Saturday, Jan. 21 in the Fellowship United Church of Christ in Chesapeake. A Celebration of Life also will take place Saturday, Jan. 28 at Shrewsbury Church in Kennedyville, Md.