James William Taylor

James William Spencer Taylor was born on January 5, 1945, the third child of Willard and Goldie Taylor of Fay, Oklahoma. After graduating from Watonga High School at age 16, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served until 1966. Jimmy, as his family and friends called him, moved to California upon his return from Viet Nam. He was hired by IBM in San Jose, where he was a programmer until he married Nina Draper, and moved to Pacific Grove in 1977. He attended MPC tor two years, and then was hired to work in accounting at Fort Ord before it was closed as a military base. At that time, MST was recruiting bus drivers, where he was hired and then transferred to Santa Cruz Metro, after moving his family to Prunedale in 1986. Jimmy's hobbies included raising cattle, goats, and was best known for his BBQ skills with baby back ribs. He is survived by his sister, Delores (Don) Coleman of Anchorage AK; his four children, Aneka (Ed) Lilya of Austin TX, Logan (Robyn) Taylor of Lafayette CA, Sterling Taylor of Oakland CA, and Coral (Akinyemi) Ajayi of Seattle WA, and eight grandchildren: Elise Lilya, Derek Lilya, Aaron Lilya, and Jason Lilya of Austin; Vivienne Taylor, Maxwell Taylor, and Brantly Taylor of Lafayette; and Akintayo Ajayi of Seattle. Jimmy was very proud of his children and grandchildren, who lovingly called him Papasan, and were all with him when he died of Angiosarcoma on March 26, 2022, in Seattle. He will be buried at the California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery, after his body is prepared by Aquamation, at the Emmick Family Funeral and Cremation Services in Seattle.

His family has suggested donations be made to Angiosarcoma Awareness, P.O. Box 4919, Portland ME 04101, or online at CUREASC.org

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