William B. Taylor

LIBERTY– William B. Taylor Jr., 89, was called home early Tuesday evening, March 30, 2021, to abide in the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Bill was born Monday, March 7, 1932, in Warren, the son of William B. and Alice Irene Beighley Taylor.

Bill attended Howland High School and worked at Highway Roller Rink renting and adjusting roller skates in the evenings and on weekends. It was there that he met his future wife, Luann Check. He would often recount how Luann’s skates never seemed to be adjusted quite right and he had to fix them often, very often.

Bill enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Columbus (CA-74). After his discharge from the Navy, Bill married the love of his life, Luann Check, on May 15, 1954.

After leaving the Navy, he worked for Acme Music & Vending in McKinley Heights with his father. Soon he became very adept at fixing anything that plugged into a wall: jukeboxes, pinball machines, televisions and every type of food vending machine that would come to market. With his expertise in vending mechanics, he later was hired as an operations manager by ARA, which was one of the largest food vending companies in the U.S. Eventually, he had his own vending company, Super Vendors. He retired in 2009.

Bill was always happy and cheerfully willing to help family and friends with anything that needed fixed — furnace, plumbing or electrical. Bill loved family gatherings and was always the “clown” of the party, especially birthday parties. He always volunteered to pull the burnt candles from the cake, scraping a swath of icing with each candle, then asking for a corner piece with the most icing.

Bill enjoyed camping trips and, in earlier years, vacationed with his family in the Pocono Mountains. He loved working on the largest and most difficult jigsaw puzzles and all of the basement walls of his home prove it. He spent hours in his workshop with his grandchildren creating various animals with his scroll saw that he’d then let them paint.

He loved playing Parcheesi with his dad and brothers throughout the years and later in life, he played Yahtzee every Saturday night with his son, Skipp and daughters, Jeri and Leslee.

To take up any spare time Bill had, his children bought him a computer; and in his late 70s, he was ready for the challenge. In a couple years, he was tearing it apart and adding more memory because it wasn’t fast enough. To his wife’s chagrin, he received flight simulator software that allowed him to pilot various planes and jets across the country.

Bill leaves behind his children, a son, William B. (Donna) Taylor of Liberty; daughters, Jeri Taylor of Cortland and Leslee Smith of Liberty; and son, Michael L. (Cheryl) Taylor of Liberty; a brother, Charles E. (Billie) Taylor; eight grandchildren, Garry, Jerry, Eric, Lindsay, Amanda, Brandi, Brad and Corey; and 11 great-grandchildren.

His wife, LuAnn Taylor; four sisters, Betty Lou Taylor, Sara Jane Taylor, Margaret Crowe and Esther M. Urey; and two brothers, Robert and Richard Taylor; preceded Bill in death.

Calling hours will be from 10:00AM to 11:30AM Monday, April 5, 2021, with the funeral service to begin at 11:30AM with Pastor Roy Mack officiating at Dillon & Santucci Funeral Home, 4471 Warren-Sharon Road, Vienna, Ohio 44473.

Military honors will be held by the United States Navy and the Newton Falls Veterans Honor Guard.

Entombment will be made in Crown Hill Burial Park in Vienna.

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