Dudley Taylor

DUDLEY TAYLOR

CEDAR RAPIDS

Dudley Claude Taylor passed away Friday, May 16, 2014, in Palm City, Fla. He was at home with the love of his life, wife Margaret, and surrounded by his children and grandchildren, whom he cherished.

Dudley was known as an entrepreneur, but those who were most affected by him were motivated by his lack of concern about failure. He believed in people and always said, "You can do anything you put your mind to." He was "inspirational to people needing inspiration, a friend to people needing friendship, an advisor to people needing advice and a loving father to his children."

Born Oct. 6, 1927, in Gary, Ind., Dudley moved many times during his youth, living in different places in the Midwest and all the way to Florida. His favorite memories were of his childhood in Del Ray Beach, Fla., and adolescence in Chicago, Ill. He excelled in athletics and won many awards in a variety of sports. Some of those awards include 14 and under Chicago Champion for skating, Chicago High School Champion in swimming and diving, high school football team captain and first string football fullback . In his early 20s he won the Chicago Golden Gloves for boxing.

In 1949 he married Margaret Ann Fischer in Vinton, Iowa. He was very fond of her family and the Vinton community. In 1952 he moved his family and his business, D.C. Taylor Co., to Vinton from Chicago. The business started as a masonry restoration firm and eventually performed work on most of the historic buildings, state capitols and county buildings in every Midwestern state. His crowning achievement came in 1964 with the award of the contract to restore, tuckpoint and clean the Washington Monument. The contract was won due to the innovative way Dudley proposed the rigging of electric hanging scaffolding in lieu of building traditional permanent scaffolding. The project made the front cover of National Geographic magazine and was featured as a full spread.

During the 1960s D.C. Taylor Co. experienced major growth and by the end of the decade had three major divisions: tuckpointing and painting, roofing and swimming pool construction. He was particularly proud that the generation that followed him, including Mary Suess, Phil Suess, Ben Taylor and Bill Taylor, joined the firm and were as enthusiastic about the company as he was. By 1985 Dudley retired at age 58. Today the company is a national, commercial and industrial roofing contracting business that has completed projects all over the United States and as far away as Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii. Furthermore, another generation, grandson Brent Taylor, has also joined the firm.

Through his 30s, 40s and 50s, Dudley took up running and finished numerous marathons and triathlons. In 1987 he finished the well-known Orange Bowl Marathon in Miami. After retirement Dudley took up biking and traveled across major parts of the United States. By 1988 he had ridden his bike from Florida to his home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, three separate times and from the West Coast to home twice. However, Dudley's biggest joy came from over 60 years of golfing and the many wonderful people he played with. He prized his golf groups and camaraderie the most.

Dudley served on the Board of Trustees for the Children's Home (now called Tanager Place) and was instrumental in attaining Cedar Rapids' first and only residential treatment facility for children. He also raised money for the establishment of the Kirkwood Community College Foundation and for the Cedar Valley Nature Trail.

Surviving Dudley are his wife, Margaret; and four children, Laurie Wittman (Randy), William Taylor (Julie), Mary Suess (Philip) and Bennett Taylor. Also surviving are his grandchildren Katie and Matt Wittman, Lauren and Brent Taylor (Ashley), Warren, William (Courtney) and Wyatt Suess, Zachary (Lisa), Peter and Joseph Taylor; stepchildren Ben (Leah) and Tyler Weston (Adisa); and great-grandchildren Grant and Remington Taylor and Bellamy Weston.

A private burial ceremony will be held Saturday, June 14, 2014, at 1 p.m. in Vinton at the Evergreen Cemetery. Later the same day, a "Celebration of Life" service will be held at 4 p.m. for friends and family in Cedar Rapids at the Cedar Rapids Country Club. Gifts in his memory can be made to Tanager Place, Kirkwood Foundation or Linn County Trails Association – new trail development.