Darrell S. Taylor

Darrell S. Taylor, age 89, of Fayetteville, AR, passed away just as he had lived, peacefully and quietly, on Monday, Jan 16, 2023. He was born Aug 27, 1933, in Flat River, Missouri, the son of the late Richard Glen and Irene Stanley Taylor. Also preceding him in death was his sister, Barbara Fix.
While everyone who knew him understood him to be a kind and gentle man, he was also a man of keen intellect and great wisdom, an avid reader and deep thinker, and a hard-working, resourceful man. His life's work was as a medical technologist. He oversaw a private lab and served as a microbiologist and hematologist for the lab for many years. He also served as an assistant scoutmaster for Troop #50, teaching and mentoring many young men through camping and hiking adventures. However, his greatest passion was Jesus. After coming to know the Lord as a teen, Darrell spent the rest of his life in service of the kingdom of Heaven. He spent countless hours serving and ministering to anyone in need. The name of God was never far from his lips and he was quick to recommend Him to anyone with whom he had an encounter. His gift from the Lord was prayer, and it is a certainty that anyone he met was lifted to the Lord whether they knew it or not. It will be a joyful reunion for him to meet all the people in heaven who can say that they first learned about Jesus from Darrell Taylor. Although the last years have seen a deterioration of his earthly mind and body, he continued to minister to the caring staff at The Bungalows Assisted Living and Edgewood Health and Rehab, who have shared that to be in Darrell's presence was to feel restful, calm, and joyful. While we are so sad to have lost Dad from this earth, our confidence is that he walks again, strong and confidently, in the streets of Heaven.
Darrell is survived by his high school sweetheart and soulmate, Gerry Taylor, whom he married June 10, 1955. They were truly a match made in heaven and never ceased to enjoy being together in whatever they did. He is also survived by his son, Kent Taylor (Amy), his daughter Lacey Bingaman (Jamie), 3 grandchildren: Diana (Dave), Daniel (Jennifer), and Natalie; and 3 great-grandchildren, Asher, Oliver, and Henry. Additionally, he is survived by his brother, Richard Kent (Marilyn), brother-in-law John Fix, sister in law Kay Denman (Ernie), niece and nephews Tiffany (Rob), John (Vimala), and Matt (Daisy), and great niece and nephew Evie and Xander. Finally, he is survived by the many brothers and sisters in Christ with whom he shared life and ministry in his 5 decades at Oak Cliff Baptist Church in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Their friendship meant the world to him and he missed them terribly when he moved.
Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, January 21, 2023, at Nelson-Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville. Burial will follow at 2:00 p.m., at Mt. Hope Cemetery, 3700 N. Rangeline Road, Webb City, Missouri.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Gideons International.