John Harold Taylor's Obituary
John Harold Taylor was born May 13, 1927 in Des Moines, Iowa to Clint Edward and Margaret Ann Taylor. He was the 3rd of 4 children. He spent his childhood in Des Moines where he graduated from East High School in May of 1945. Shortly after graduation he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, which became the Air Force in 1957, and left for bootcamp. He served in Germany from December 1945 to January 1947. John moved to Tulsa in 1948 where he attended The Spartan School of Aeronautics where he became a Licensed Airplane Mechanic and earned his Pilots License.On April 29, 1952 he would meet his wife of 66 years, Virginia Marie Dobbs. In June of 1952 John accepted the lord Jesus into his life. On July 18th John and Marie were married at Manger Baptist Church in Tulsa. By May of 1953 they would welcome their first child Carl Edward followed by Steven Kent in February of 1955 and Jeannie Marie in July of 1957. While John and Marie raised their three beautiful children John worked as a Machinist for 13 years with Tulsa Screw Inc. Over the years he’d work for Crescent Precision Products and finish this part of his career at TKI International where he worked as an Engineer until fall of 1976. While working he regularly attended church and became a Deacon in 1960. John would also spend many years teaching Sunday school.In the fall of 1976 John and Marie volunteered to be foreign missionaries and attended an orientation in Georgia. Upon completion of orientation they were commissioned and assigned to Kenya, East Africa. In Kenya, John helped build and establish a school for Mechanics and Electricians where he taught four classes on an ongoing basis. In the school John also provided classes on church leadership. They served in Kenya until August 1986 when they where transferred to Liberia, West Africa where they served until the war in 1990 when they were temporarily assigned to Nigeria. In 1991 they where assigned to Senegal, West Africa and would retire on their return in 1994. In 1998 John and Marie would return to Senegal for one year to relieve fellow missionaries. Upon their return from Senegal and between volunteer assignments John helped build churches in the Northern States of America. In 2002 John and Marie surprised the entire family when the announced they would serve as missionaries as volunteers but this time the would serve in Israel. They would serve in Israel from 2002-2004 and then again from 2006-2007. In 2007 John and Marie officially retired from international mission work.During their stateside assignments, while active missionaries, between volunteer assignments and since then John and Marie have spent as much time as possible with their growing family. Their children would have married and gifted them with 14 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.Upon his return to Tulsa in 2007 John resumed his life’s calling in worship to the church, as a Deacon and teaching Sunday school.Visitation ~ Wednesday, July 25, 2018 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Floral Haven Funeral Home.Celebration of Life ~ Thursday, July 25, 2018 at 10:00 AM at Jenks First Baptist Church with Pastor Dan Taylor officiating. Burial will follow at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Pallbearers will be Dustin, Michael, Ryan, Jason, John, Ricky, and Thomas.
What’s your fondest memory of John?
What’s a lesson you learned from John?
Share a story where John's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with John you’ll never forget.
How did John make you smile?