Charles D. (Dave) Taylor Obituary (1939

Dave passed into the arms of his Lord on August 6, after suffering valiantly for many years with congestive heart failure. Dave was born on the kitchen table of his family's farmhouse in St. James Missouri, to Earl and Edna Taylor. He was the last of 12 children. He moved to San Diego, CA with his parents and younger siblings when he was 4 years old. Dave spent his years growing up in San Diego and graduated from Point Loma High School. He met the love of his life, Wanda Lou Blain, when a friend discovered Wanda thought he was handsome, and dropped him off unannounced at her house. They were married on May 24, 1958, and together they had three children, Kathy (Kate), Anita and Chuck. Dave realized his goal of becoming a firefighter when the family moved to Seattle in 1967. He was a proud Seattle Firefighter for 23 years, serving at several stations in Seattle, but spent most of his career at Station 6 (23rd & Yesler), and Headquarters after he took a friend's place when he died in the line of duty. He was the quintessential firefighter, preferring to fight fires and save people, rather than advance through the command chain away from the action. He retired earlier than he wanted after several injuries suffered in the line of duty. Dave's family will forever recall the special scent of smoke that followed around with him for days after he fought epic fires, no matter how many showers he took. While Dave and Wanda made their first home in Washington state in Seattle, they quickly fell in love with Bainbridge Island. This is where all the kids grew up, and the family became part of the local communities of Bainbridge and Poulsbo, attending Christ Memorial Church (Gateway Fellowship) and then Dave and Wanda, North Kitsap Baptist Church. After Chuck graduated from high school, Dave and Wanda moved to Poulsbo, and have lived there since. Dave loved many things: God, his family and friends, dogs, hunting and fishing, being outdoors, saltines and sardines, pie of any variety (well, who are we kidding, he loved food), and mixing as many of those things as possible. His children grew up with a father who laughed easily and often, was always up for an adventure, was slow to anger, and they knew they were all, equally, the apples of his eye. Because of his firefighter's schedule, Dave was able to take the family on long camping trips in Washington and Canada, fishing, clam digging and beach combing, and traveling up and down the coast between Bainbridge and San Diego to visit the scores of family members still living in the San Diego area. Being a friend of Dave's was a special honor, as he loved and cherished all his friends, and got together as often as possible to share silly and touching stories, his love of God, and to bask in the company of people he loved...and to eat something with frosting. Dave is survived by his beloved wife, Wanda, his daughters Kate Anderson (Larry), Anita Mason (Tony), and Chuck Taylor (Debbie), his grandchildren Nicole Mason Grady (Aaron), Marshall Taylor and Natalie Taylor Bledsoe (Travis), and great grandchildren, Theia and Ella Grady. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his grandson, Taylor Mason. There will be a service and celebration at a future date when Covid concerns don't keep his many family and friends from attending.