Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Pastor was unofficial welcoming committee
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Rev. Harold Oates Taylor, a longtime Davie pastor known for greeting his congregation with a pack of RC Cola and a box of moon pies, died Tuesday at age 87.
Taylor served the First Baptist Church of Davie for 33 years. After his retirement from there in 1994, Taylor went on to lead the First Baptist Church of Hallandale and Gardens Baptist Church in West Park. He retired for the final time in 2005.
Taylor was also chaplain to the Davie Police Department, chaplain to the Davie Rodeo and a founding member of the Kiwanis Club of Davie, where he organized an annual Christmas party for children in need.
“Harold tried retirement three times before it took,” said longtime friend, the Rev. Darryl Stuehrenberg, who served Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Davie. “Pastor Taylor was the unofficial welcoming committee for new religious leaders who moved to Davie. He took me under his wing in 1977 and introduced me to everyone. He was the religious go-to man of our community, and a great friend.”
Raised in Columbia, Ala., Taylor studied science education at Auburn University, where he met his wife of 61 years, MaryAnn Stringfellow Taylor. The two moved to Florida in 1961 when Taylor was offered a pastorship in Davie.
Before becoming a pastor, Taylor was a naval mechanic aboard the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier during the Korean War.
“My dad was a largerthan-life kind of person and the most nonjudgemental person,” said his daughter, Catherine Taylor Hickem. “He used to say ‘I’m conservative in my theology, but I’m liberal in my treatment of people.’ ”
Taylor, who died of congestive heart failure, is survived by his wife, MaryAnn, two children, Catherine and Harold Taylor Jr., daughterin-law Stacy Gardner Taylor, five grandchildren and two sisters, Wilma Yance and Marjorie Odom.
A prayer service will be conducted at New Life Baptist Church, 2400 S. Pine Island Road in Davie from 1 to 2 p.m. today. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Gardens Baptist Church, 3210 SW 59th Terrace in West Park.