Col. David Monroe Taylor (USAF Ret.), age 89 of Newport News, Va, passed away on March 19, 2024, the Feast of St. Joseph.

Dave was born in Williamsport, Pa, the son of Paul and Olga Taylor.  After graduating high school in Dover, New Jersey in 1952, Dave attended Rutgers University on an ROTC scholarship and was commissioned into the United States Air Force as a 2nd Lt after graduation in 1956.  He went on to have a distinguished 23-year career as a fighter pilot, flying primarily the F-4 Phantom and the A-10 Warthog.  He served in the Vietnam war, and later as a squadron commander in Germany.  Toward the end of his career, he was stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Va. He returned to the Peninsula after his retirement in 1979.

Dave met his wife of 67 years, Barbara on a blind date while he was at Rutgers, and she was at nearby Douglass College. They were married in October 1956 following his graduation and commissioning.  Dave possessed a dry sense of humor and was fond of telling people that he was his new bride's legal guardian, as she was not yet 21 when they married.

Dave is remembered as generous, kind, and giving, but also funny, full of energy, and passionate about life. He loved his family and made them his priority.  He was a person who showed his love by small acts of service, like shopping for groceries and doing all the prep work when it was another family member's night to cook.   He was always looking for ways to serve and help people that involved actually doing or making something.  Last November, at 89, he made and individually wrapped his not-so-secret cornbread for 150 homeless guests of PORT.  He was a long-time active member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, serving as a Eucharistic minister, Outreach volunteer, and sponsor of new members in RCIA.  He was also an active member of his neighborhood community, Brandywine, tending to the common spaces, helping with the Halloween parade, judging the Yard of the Month, and dining with his neighbors at their monthly supper club.  He loved to travel with his family, especially river cruises in Europe.  He was a golfer, a woodworker, a handyman, a gardener, a devotee of bad old Western TV shows, and a constant jigsaw puzzler.  He loved dogs.  He loved people.  Put him anywhere, he would talk to anyone, and loved making new friends.

Dave is survived by his wife of 67 years, Barbara; children, David and Karen Taylor, Kim Taylor, Keith Taylor, and Scott Taylor; grandchildren, Luke, Jenny, Zachary, Noah, and Jacob; great-grandchildren, Sean and Colin; and Isabelle, Countess of York, who is still waiting for a ride in the truck.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated 11 AM Monday, April 8, 2024, in St. Michael Hall of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church, 144 Harpersville Rd., in Newport News.  Visitation will be at the Church, beginning at 10 AM.

The family wishes, in lieu of flowers, food items be brought to the church, or contributions be made to the OLMC Church Pantry.  Arrangements are by Berceuse Funeral and Cremation Traditions in Hampton, 757-825-8070.