Lt. Col. David Spencer Taylor, Jr., 86, United States Army, Retired, departed this life on November 6, 2017. David was born May 26, 1931 in the Murphreesboro community in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, near the town of Scobey. He was the second child of David Spencer Taylor, Sr. and Martha Irma Bonner Taylor. His family eventually grew to 10 children. Only two sisters and one brother survive.

When David was about three years old the family home burned. The family moved to Geeslin Corner, a small community some four miles north of Grenada, where he grew up and continued to live until June 1955, when he moved to Stillwater, OK to attend Oklahoma State College.

David began his formal education at Wolfe Hardy Grade School (grades 1-6); Grenada Junior High School (grades 7-8) and then graduated from Grenada High School June 7, 1950. After completing high school, David started college at Northwest Jr. College in Senatobia, MS. As is so often the case when the nation is at war, David's education was interrupted in January 1951 when he was inducted into the United States Army during the Korean Conflict.

David was a member of "BTRY A", Infantry, Dixie Division, that was activated on January 16, 1951. He was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training and then served at Fort Jackson, Fort Gordon, Georgia, Fort Belvoir, Virginia and Fort Richardson, Alaska. He was honorably discharged from active duty in September 1952. He rejoined the MS National Guard and returned to college. He enrolled in Mississippi State College, now Mississippi State University in September 1952 where he studied mechanical engineering. He stayed at Mississippi State until June 1955 when upon marrying a girl from Lawton, Oklahoma, he transferred to Oklahoma A&M College, now Oklahoma State University. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering in January 1957 and moved to Fort Worth, TX after accepting a job with General Dynamics Inc. He worked for General Dynamics designing and working with military airplanes.

In 1964 Mr. Taylor resumed his military career when he enrolled in the United States Army Reserves. He retired from the Reserve program in 1981 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. While a member of the United States Army Reserves he attended Basic and Advanced Artillery at Fort Sill, OK and General and Command Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS. After graduating from these schools through the Army Reserve, he taught Advance Artillery at Fort Sill, OK and G&CS at several military installations and these courses at 4159 ^th U.S. Army Center in Fort Worth, TX. While working in Fort Worth, David earned his Professional Engineer License as a P.E. Texas #19958. He was listed in Texas Who's Who in 1973-1974. He continued his education by taking some graduate studies at TCU. He studied many subjects and training classes related to his work.

He left General Dynamics after six years and accepted a job with Defense Logistics Agency, a division of the Department of Defense. He worked in production and quality assurance engineering for 30 years and retired from this organization in September 1991.

Over the years Taylor received numerous awards for superior performance through his employment with Defense Logistics. He attended numerous classes and taught "Learning Curves". He also served as the representative for assisting quality assurance personnel in interpretation of drawings and specifications, special processes, welding, heat treating and plating. He also helped to rewrite some of the specifications manuals for these processes.

David learned the commendable art of hard work from his mother, Martha Irma, who was often referred to as one of the hardest working persons known around the community. She took great delight and pleasure in raising her children and working in her gardens where she provided fruits and vegetables to feed her family. She canned many of the harvested produce to feed her family when the gardens were not producing fresh crops. David's late wife Beatrice often referred to her as the greatest person she ever knew. At the time they did not have electricity, running water or telephones for many years. They carried water from a spring ¾ mile away until such time as they were able to dig a well in the mid 40s when they got electricity, a school bus to ride instead of walking and rural delivery of mail. This was about 1944-1945. Growing up David did all kinds of work from cutting fire wood for heating and cooking to working in the fields, raising corn and cotton and a garden. As a teenager he chopped corn and cotton, the picked the thorny bolls and pulled corn. He plowed the fields behind a mule or a horse.

David worked at his father's sawmill performing every task associated with operating a sawmill and producing lumber. David learned to drive in 1947, when he drove a truck pulling and hauling logs and timber, pulp wood and gravel. David was an excellent driver and continued to operate a motor vehicle until 2016 when his health precluded his continuing this joy. He had thought at one time to try his hand as a race car driver. He enjoyed all kinds of motor sports, NASCAR, Indy and truck racing. While in the Army he drove many types of vehicles from trucks to tractors.

David was a life member of many organizations including the Reserve Officers Association of America, National Rifle Association of America, North American Hunting Club, North American Fishing Club, 31 ^st Dixie Division Veterans Association, Republican National Committee and the History Channel. He also was a member of the American Legion Post 130, Waynesboro, TN.

He was preceded in death by his late beloved wife of 38 years, Beatrice Omega Smith Ginter Taylor. They met on June 19, 1954 and were married on December 23, 1954 in Grandfield, Oklahoma. Bea passed away on January 24, 1993 and was interred in the Highland Cemetery in Lawton, Oklahoma. His longtime companion, Ms. Frances Ellis, passed away September 14, 2015 and was laid to rest in the veterans cemetery in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and three brothers, John Julius Taylor, James Louis Taylor and Eugene Coats Taylor and three sisters, Martha Elizabeth Taylor Tedford, Betty Geneva Taylor Jackson and Annice Beverly Taylor Burnett also preceded David in death.

Mr. Taylor is survived by two sisters, Barbara Virginia Taylor Kendall and Emily Yvonne Taylor Kelly, both of Grenada and a brother, Robert Criss Taylor of Coffeeville. He leaves many cousins, nephews and nieces as well as more friends and loved ones than he could count.

Mr. Taylor remained in Fort Worth, TX until he and his long time companion Frances Ellis moved to Waynesboro, TN in June 2003, where they bought the former Jalmar Pigg home one highway 64 West. They both were members of the First United Methodist Church in Waynesboro.

David's greatest sport and recreational activities included hunting all types of birds, quail, dove, geese, ducks, pheasant, chucker and wild turkey with a number of expertly trained dogs. He hunted elk and deer and bagged a 16 point elk in Idaho and a 10 point mule deer in Wyoming. He shared his game with others and often served elk at the wild game dinner at the Green River Baptist Church in Waynesboro.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, November 11, 2017 at McKibben and Guinn Funeral Service in Grenada. Interment with full military honors will follow in the Grenada Memorial Garden. The family will receive friends from 5:00-7:00 PM Friday evening and one hour prior to the service Saturday all at McKibben and Guinn.

Memorials may be directed to the charity of the donor's choice.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.mckibbenandguinn.com .

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of McKibben and Guinn Funeral Service in Grenada, 662-307-2694.