John F. Taylor's Obituary
A good man, John Franklin Taylor, left this existence on December 22, 2015, and joined the rest of his family that preceded him in death: his father, Myron Westbrook Taylor, his mother, Thelma Lee Allmacher, and his two younger brothers, Donald and Richard. He was born in Chicago, IL, on Feb. 4, 1927, where he resided until he enlisted in the Navy as a seaman on his 18th birthday. He wanted to fight the enemy in the South Pacific but because the war was winding down in 1945, he was assigned to Bermuda as a seabee. His next assignment was as a station keeper at Great Lakes Naval Air Station where he repaired electrical circuits. While there, the Navy opened up the Naval Cadet program to non-college personnel. He took the tests and became the first person from Great Lakes to qualify. The war in Korea was heating up so he was put in a squadron at Alameda in Oakland. He had an accident that broke both of his legs and most of the veins in his ankles, which caused him health problems the rest of his life. He flew wing on a Mormon and they were soon discussing religion. The ship, the Kearsarge , returned to San Diego. His wingman, Gerry Grove, felt he was taking too long to be baptized. They decided he needed to meet and marry a Mormon woman. That is what happened after he met Joanna Bogason. They were married September 18, 1953, after a 3-month whirlwind courtship during which time he was baptized. John was called “super Mormon” because of his diligent acceptance of his religion. He served in many positions. He along with Joanna served two 18-month missions for the Church. The first one was on the Crow and Cheyenne reservations. The second was on a restored 18th century village in Nauvoo, IL He wore a period costume while giving tours of the buildings and mowed the many lawns on a rider lawnmower. He was the proud father of six children: John Scott, Susi, David, Gary, Steven and Kristin. They have 27 grandchildren and 12 and a half grandchildren. After he finished a cruise in the Mediterranean, he transferred into an active reserve squadron. All together he served 26 years in the Navy. He graduated from two associates’ programs: Wright Junior College and DeVry Technical. They returned to San Diego where they chose a home in Santee. He was hired by Cubic but lost it in big layoff of the early 70s. After about a year he started a gardening/landscape service, which he ran until he retired.“God be with you till we meet again”
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