Charles Elmer Taylor Jr.

TAYLOR

CHARLES ELMER TAYLOR JR

Charles Elmer Taylor, Jr. died on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 of Gaithersburg, MD. Beloved husband of Donna Wood Taylor and the late Dorothy Beatrice Taylor; dear father of Charles D. "Chuck" Taylor. Charles Taylor Jr was born to Charles and Irene Taylor in Boston on December 27, 1923.

Charles was a proud veteran, serving as a Naval Line Officer from 1941-1945. He served in anti-submarine and catapult warfare in the Atlantic theater on USS Absecon during WWII.

After the war, Charles Taylor attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Upon graduation he served as a US Secret Service Special Agent for 20 years, serving under five presidents starting with President Truman. During his tenure, Charles was awarded in 1958 the Presidential Medal of Honor by President Eisenhower for helping move back a communist controlled mob in Caracas, Venezuela from Vice President Richard Nixon. Nixon wrote the following "in the face of extreme physical danger they displayed the greatest courage and devotion to duty, coupled with a restraint from their part which was most difficult to achieve. … they moved back an armed mob with bare hands, then broke the road block and freed the motorcade so that it could proceed out of danger"

Taylor also had the grim duty of handling the limousine in which President Kennedy had been assassinated on November 22, 1963. He took it to a secure location and had portions of the president's skull removed from the vehicle. He then supervised the transport to Beltsville, MD for an in-depth Secret Service Forensic analysis.

Special Agent Taylor later pre-interviewed people who testified before the Warren Commission. Also, Taylor provided Secret Service evidence to the commission that supported the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy. Taylor reported that Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, "was able to stabilize himself" in the book-depository building, he said. "He was a marksman and had the capability to do it."

Taylor also helped develop a book on currency, which became a "bible" for counterfeiting investigations and headed a commission studying the use of clad-metal coins.

With his first wife dying of cancer, Taylor left the Secret Service in 1976.

Charles Taylor served in Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign security detail. Following the Clinton administration's departure in 2001, Taylor was part of a group that helped recover improperly removed White House valuables.

Charles was a lifetime swimmer and swam for the University of Pennsylvania.

Charles served as President and Vice President of Membership and played golf weekly at Bethesda Country Club. He was also a lifetime fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

Friends will be received at Faith United Methodist, 6810 Montrose Rd., Rockville, MD 20852 on Monday, February 21, 2022 from 10 to 11 a.m. followed by funeral at 11 a.m. Interment to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery at 2 p.m. Please view and sign online family guestbook at

www.pumphreyfuneralhome.com