Duane Herbert Taylor

Duane Herbert Taylor was born on September 22, 1929, in the small town of Oakley, Idaho, to Elmer LaVar Taylor and Emma Hardy Taylor. The second oldest of five children, Duane grew up in the Oakley area.

Duane attended Oakley High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and track, and was president of his graduating class. After his graduation in 1947 he attended Utah State Agricultural College, Logan, on an athletic scholarship, initially pursuing a degree in education. While there he developed an interest in engineering, and in 1950 he transferred to the University of Idaho, Moscow, where he earned a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1952. After military service he returned to the University of Idaho, where he received a graduate degree in 1955.

During his time in college Duane achieved notable athletic success in track and field. He even held the Idaho state record with a 162 ft. discus toss in 1951, surpassing the previous record by five feet. He participated in track and field events all around the country in the early 1950s and was recognized widely for his athletic achievements.

Duane was called into active military service in 1952, serving in the United States Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant. A communications officer, he was stationed at Esslingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. Duane represented the U.S.A.F. in military athletic competitions all over Europe, including the military Olympics held in Brussels in 1953. After completing his military service in 1954 Duane picked up an MG he had purchased in Germany from the docks in Manhattan and drove it across the country back to Idaho. It was the first of many unusual automobiles he would own.

After completing his graduate degree Duane found employment as an engineer with General Electric in upstate New York. In 1958 he was offered a position with General Electric’s TEMPO military think tank in Santa Barbara, California. He remained with General Electric’s military research division for the greater part of his working life.

Duane met Ann Engberg on a blind date in the summer of 1958, attending a drive-in double feature. They were married on June 20, 1959. In 1961 they bought a new house in Santa Barbara where they raised their two sons, Brian and Scott, and where many of their neighbors became lifelong friends. Later they moved to nearby Montecito, California, to a historic property that encouraged their interest in gardening and landscaping. The Taylor family loved the outdoors, and for many years they enjoyed yearly summer camping and hiking trips with family and friends in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California and the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho.

Duane’s work led the family to move to Syracuse, New York, in 1972. It was the beginning of a series of interstate moves for work: from Syracuse to Pittsfield, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; and back to Pittsfield. After his retirement Duane and Ann continued moving around the west, to Groveland, California; Murtaugh and Twin Falls, Idaho; St. George, Utah; and Salem, Oregon. In the course of these many moves, Duane and Ann made longtime friends everywhere they went, all over the country. On Ann’s passing in 2021 Duane moved back to the St. George area.

In his leisure time, Duane could often be found golfing, fishing or camping. He was an avid reader of western novels and books on the history of the American West. He also had an artistic side, and he developed an aptitude for drawing, watercolor painting, and woodworking. His intricate scroll saw creations were admired by many. Always an engineer at heart, he enjoyed nothing more than finding a practical solution to any challenge that might present itself. Duane could find a way to fix it, whatever it was.

Duane died in hospice on December 19, 2024 surrounded by the love and support of family. He is survived by his son Scott, his sister Joyce and his brother Gary. He was preceded in death by his wife Ann, his son Brian and infant daughter Tamara, his parents, and his brothers Keith and Clinton. 

Duane requested a private committal of ashes in a place that was significant to him and his immediate family.