Taylor Schipman

Taylor Lee Schipman passed away on February 18, 2025 at St. Vincents Hospital in Billings, Montana. The doctors claim his cause of death was cardiac arrest due to complications with his type one diabetes, but we all know he checked out because he'd learned that he would not be able to stream the 3C & 1B District Basketball tournaments while in his hospital room.
Taylor was born on June 25, 1984 in Kalispell, Montana the first born son of Larry and Patti (Schriver) Schipman. He spent his first years of life in Kila, Montana where he terrorized his dog and welcomed his little brother and sister, Trent and Shoni, to the world. At the young age of four he was diagnosed with diabetes and spent the rest of his life ignoring that he had it. From then on, living on borrowed time, Taylor lived his life to the fullest making lifelong friendships and memories along the way.
Taylor moved to the family ranch in Circle, Montana when he was in second grade in 1991. On his first day of school at Bo-Peep Elementary he was very worried about meeting new friends and whether or not he'd have anyone to play with at recess. He came home and excitedly reported to his mother that he had made five new friends. After that he got really good at making friends.
Playground football and basketball turned into a passion for sports that some might argue was more of an obsession. At a young age Taylor was found studying plays, scrutinizing defenses, and even writing his own playbooks. While excelling as a Circle Wildcat athlete in multiple sports, he found his true joy in coaching and strategy. His first coaching position was coaching a travel team for his sister when he was only a junior in high school. And just last week, before his passing, he expressed his desire to begin an AAU basketball program with the goal of helping Circle Wildcats get basketball scholarships to larger colleges.
Taylor received high marks academically at Circle High School and attended both Dickinson State University as well as Montana State University-Billings. Some people are book smart and some people are street smart, but Taylor was both. He was always the smartest person in the room. He was always the wittiest person in the room. He was always the funniest person in the room.
Taylor left his mark around the town of Circle with his many roofing and siding jobs. He started working construction as a teenager working for different contractors, but eventually started his own contracting business to support his coaching addiction. He was meticulous in his work, but even more meticulous in the shaping and mentoring of the young men that worked with him. He wanted these young men to be able to one day put a roof over their head, learn work ethic, and become the best version of themselves.
Coaching and mentoring the young men and women of Circle was Taylor's life ambition, but the true love of his life was Mikenda Seymour. They shared a love of basketball and a genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of the young athletes they coached. A long awaited marriage proposal was greatly celebrated by Taylor and Mikenda's family, friends, and athletes. Mikenda stood by his side on the basketball court, supported him while he coached football, drove them on all their adventures (not very well according to Taylor), took care of all his doctors appointments and medications, and loved him more passionately in their seven years together than most experience in a lifetime.
Taylor was the most engaging, caring and humor-filled individual to pass your way. He will be painfully missed by his family and friends. He is preceded in death by his grandparents Rob and Marge Schriver, Darrell Schipman, and Helen Cameron. He is survived by his fiancée Mikenda Seymour, parents Larry and Patti Schipman, his brother Trent Schipman, his sister and her husband Shoni and Will Townsend, nieces Ember and Hazel Townsend, nephew Henry Townsend, his faithful dog Moxy, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, future in-laws, and friends that were like family to him.
Taylor's loved ones would like to set up a scholarship fund in his name for Wildcat graduates. If anyone chooses to designate their donation to this scholarship an account will be set up at Grasslands Federal Credit Union.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 10:00 a.m at the Circle High School Gymnasium. Following the funeral service, a reception will be held at the Circle Country Market. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.stevensonandsons.com.