William B. Taylor Sr., 86, a director of research and development for the Army Corps of Engineers when he retired in 1981, died April 3 at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria of respiratory failure.

Mr. Taylor started his career with the Corps of Engineers in 1945 after he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He was briefly assigned to the Manhattan Project, the Allies’ effort in World War II to build an atomic bomb.

He left active duty in 1955 and, during the late 1950s, was a civilian engineer and research manager with the Army Nuclear Power Program. From 1962 to 1967, he was director of NASA’s Apollo Applications Program before he rejoined the Corps of Engineers at the Pentagon.

William Brockenbrough Taylor, a native of Norfolk, received a master’s degree in engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1951. During the 1980s, he was an alternative energy consultant for engineering firms in the Washington region.

His honors included the NASA Superior Achievement Award and the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

He was a member of St. James Episcopal Church in Alexandria and had lived in Alexandria since 1951.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Nancy Aitcheson Taylor of Alexandria; five children, William B. Taylor Jr. and Anne Cregger Patterson, both of Arlington, Paul K. Taylor and Katharine C. Taylor, both of Manassas, and David A. Taylor of Washington; and 10 grandchildren.

Rev. Robert Page Taylor didn't just preach about helping the poor and disenfranchised. He spent a lifetime living out that mission, first as a civil rights activist, then as a director of a halfway house and later as a licensed clinical social worker counseling substance abusers.

"He was just the ideal of what everybody wants in a priest," said his wife, Carvel Taylor. "He was tough and he was kind and he was forgiving, and he was open and funny, and he was very dedicated to the Episcopal Church."

Father Taylor, 67, an Episcopal priest for decades in Chicago, died Thursday in his home in Virginia Beach.

A native of Virginia, Father Taylor moved to Evanston to earn a master's of divinity degree in 1958 from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary.

He was one of 15 priests fined and sentenced to jail after they led a prayer pilgrimage in Jackson, Miss., to protest segregation in 1961. Father Taylor spent about three weeks in jail, but breach of peace charges were dropped.

While a seminarian in the late 1950s, Father Taylor began working at St. Leonard's, a halfway house for ex-convicts founded by Rev. James Jones. While there, he developed a love for the work and began his ministry in 1958 as a chaplain at Cook County Jail.

By the end of the decade, he joined Jones in helping build St. Leonard's from a small service for only a handful of ex-convicts to a well-regarded refuge for men looking to rebuild their lives. In 1963, he was appointed executive director of St. Leonard's and led the house until 1970.

When he first got involved with St. Leonard's, Father Taylor lived with his wife and children at the West Side halfway house in the midst of what was a ghetto. He opened himself up to the ex-convicts, counseled them and helped them get jobs.

"He was one of the greatest priests I've ever known," said Father Jones. "When he gave his heart and soul to the ex-prisoners, they learned people weren't down on them."

Father Taylor later joined the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago in 1980 as the director of the Office of Pastoral Care, which offers counseling and other assistance to priests and church members.

In 1987, he became director of program and mission for the diocese, which involved planning for mission parishes and setting the direction of diocesan services.

Father Taylor was also a clinical social worker and a senior certified addiction counselor, with a master's degree in social work from the University of Chicago. For many years, he worked as a counselor with his wife, also a social worker, and helped scores of people overcome addictions.

He retired from the diocese in 1992, then worked with his wife for several years and later as an interim rector of the Church of the Ascension in Chicago. He officially retired in 1996.

In addition to his wife, Father Taylor is survived by two daughters, Susan Amory and Mary Taylor; two sons, Joseph and Stephen; a sister, Elizabeth Tazewell; two brothers, Rev. Lewis Jerome Taylor and William Taylor; and six grandchildren. A service will be held Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. in Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 1133 N. LaSalle St., Chicago.

The Rev. Robert Page Taylor, 67, an Episcopal priest, died Sept. 16, 1999, in his home in Virginia Beach.

Fr. Taylor served the Diocese of Chicago from 1958 until his retirement in 1996. He began his ministry as chaplain to Cook County Prison and was a member of a team which founded St. Leonard's House, a halfway house for persons leaving prison. From 1963 to 1970, Fr. Taylor was the executive director of the agency, guiding it through a time of expansion. He was assistant priest at The Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer in Chicago during the time he was a staff member at Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, a survey research firm. Fr. Taylor joined the Diocese of Chicago staff in 1980 to become director of the Office of Pastoral Care, a service of assistance to Episcopal priests, their families, lay employees and members of Episcopal congregations experiencing difficulties in living.

In 1987, Fr. Taylor was named a Canon of the Episcopal Church when he became director of Program and Mission for the Diocese. This work involved strategic planning for mission parishes and designing overall direction for Diocesan services. In the 1960s, Fr. Taylor was involved in the Civil Rights Movement in Chicago and elsewhere, managing the legal defense funds of those arrested in demonstrations in Chicago. After retirement, he was interim rector of the Church of the Ascension in Chicago, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Norfolk, and St. Bride's Church in Chesapeake.

Fr. Taylor was also a licensed clinical social worker and a senior certified addiction counselor. He served as consultant to individuals, families and businesses in the field of chemical dependency and mental health.

Fr. Taylor was born in Norfolk and was the son of Jerome and Roberta Taylor. He graduated from Granby High School in Norfolk in 1949. He attended Hampden-Sydney College where he pledged Chi Phi Fraternity. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Virginia in 1953, a Masters of Divinity degree in 1958 from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Ill., and a master's degree in social work from the University of Chicago in 1982.

His family includes his wife, Carvel Underwood Taylor of the home; four children: Susan Amory of Boston and her husband, David, and their children, Linzee and John; Stephen Taylor of Redondo Beach, Calif.; Joseph Taylor of Chicago and his wife, Wendy, and their children, Joseph Paul III, Terrance and Trevor; and Mary Taylor of Chicago and her son, Christopher Nakutis. He is also survived by his sister, Elizabeth Tazewell of Norfolk and her husband, John; his brother, the Rev. Lewis Jerome Taylor of Virginia Beach and his wife, Pauline; and his brother, William Taylor of Alexandria and his wife, Nancy.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Norfolk, led by the Rev. John J. Capellaro. In addition, a memorial Eucharist will be held at 11 a.m., Oct. 2, 1999, at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Chicago by the Rev. Gary Fertig.

Elizabeth T. Tazewell

Virginia Beach - Elizabeth "Betsy" Taylor Tazewell, 95, passed away on June 23, 2016, at Westminster-Canterbury in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She was born on May 22, 1921, in Norfolk, Virginia, to Lewis Jerome Taylor and Roberta Newton Taylor.

Betsy grew up at Stillwaters, her family home in Talbot Park, attended Miss Turnbull's Private School for Girls in Norfolk, Virginia, and made her debut in 1942. After high school, she attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and in June of 1942, married her high school sweetheart, John Tazewell, who had just graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. After raising five children and John's retirement in 1970, Betsy returned to Old Dominion University, and was conferred a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1972.

Betsy inherited the best of Tidewater gentility from her mother, and a strong measure of Yankee independence from her father. She was deeply spiritual and embodied love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. She was devoted to her husband and her family, and she enjoyed visiting family and friends all over the United States and the world. She was an avid sailor, and enjoyed sailing the Crab Creek environs, the Chesapeake Bay and up and down the East Coast with John. She was a member of the Monday Club, and enjoyed studying art, music and architecture, both in Tidewater and during their travels.

Betsy was pre deceased by her husband John, and her daughter Elizabeth; and is survived by her daughter, Judith, and her three sons, John, Richard, and Littleton, together with thirteen grandchildren and ten great-grand children.

A memorial service will be held at Westminster Canterbury, Virginia Beach, on August 27, 2016. A private ceremony to scatter Betsy's ashes will follow in Norfolk.

Lewis J. Taylor Jr. NORFOLK - The Rev. Lewis Jerome Taylor Jr., husband of the late Pauline Green Taylor and father to five, died in Virginia Beach Feb. 21, 2011, after a brief illness, the day before his 88th birthday.

The Rev. Taylor, who was known as "Jay" to family and friends, always sought an engaged and authentic life. He was a beloved member of a large family of Taylors and Tazewells with deep roots in Hampton Roads.

The Rev. Taylor was the oldest son and second born to Lewis Jerome Taylor Sr. and Roberta Newton Taylor. He graduated with honors from Granby High School in 1941 and from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1944.

He experienced combat in the Pacific aboard the USS Bataan and after the war earned his wings as a naval aviator.

After leaving active duty, the Rev. Taylor did post-graduate work at Johns Hopkins University and worked with his father-in-law in agriculture in Clarke County before being called back to active duty for the Korean War.

He again left active duty but continued as a Naval Reserve officer, eventually retiring with the rank of commander.

The Rev. Taylor felt the call to the ministry while working as partner with his father in the insurance business in Norfolk. He attended Seabury Western Theological Seminary from which he graduated summa cum laude.

The Rev. Taylor found the opportunity for an engaged and authentic life in the ministry, which he pursued with great energy for nearly 50 years as an Episcopal priest, theological scholar and prison chaplain.

He served for two years as the assistant rector at Williamsburg's Bruton Parish Church and as the Episcopal Chaplain at The College of William and Mary, before accepting the challenge of starting a new church in Virginia Beach, St. Aiden's Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Taylor was known at St. Aidan's as a tireless and scholarly priest whose sermons challenged parishioners to listen hard and think deeply about their own search for God's presence in everyday life.

In 1968, his personal search took him to Duke University where he pursued his interest in the Christian existen- tialism of Soren Kierkegaard and the insights of the Louisiana novelist and philosopher Walker Percy, with whom he developed a warm friendship and correspondence.

The Rev. Taylor earned the Doctor of Philosophy degree in systematic theology in 1971, with his dissertation titled "The Becoming of the Self in the Writings of Walker Percy: A Kierkegaardian Analysis," which he later published as a book titled "In Search of Self: Life, Death and Walker Percy."

After graduation, the Rev. Taylor became a professor at Saint Andrew's Theological Seminary in Manila in the Philippines. In 1977, the Rev. Taylor returned to the United States and the Diocese of Newark, New Jersey, where he served again as a parish priest and founded another mission church, in Chester.

The Rev. Taylor retired from fulltime parish ministry in 1985 and returned to Virginia Beach where he served as interim rector at several parishes and as chaplain at the Indian Creek Correctional Center in Chesapeake, while still pursuing his scholarly research and writing.

The Rev. Taylor's life of search, authentic engagement and fulfillment found crucial support in his marriage with Polly Taylor. Together they raised three sons, Lewis J. Taylor III, Michael R. Taylor and John B. Taylor; and two daughters, Mary Frances Ridley Vince and Joan Elizabeth Taylor.

Mr. Taylor is survived by his five children and their spouses, Lynn Roth Taylor, Christine Lewis Taylor, Cherin Cross Taylor and Ronald Vince; and by his older sister, Elizabeth (Betsy) Tazewell and younger brother, William B. Taylor. His youngest brother, Rev. Robert P. Taylor, died in 1999.

The Rev. Taylor is also survived by his grand- children, Lewis J. Taylor IV, Jennifer Taylor, Franklin Taylor, Sara Taylor, Bethany Taylor Etgen, Daniel Taylor, Kyle Vince, David Vince and Tyler Taylor; and his great-grandchildren, Mei-Lian Vader, An-Lian Vader, Robert Taylor, Lindsay Taylor, Emily Etgen, Alex Etgen, Carter Etgen, and Jonas Taylor.

The family extends its thanks to the Atlantic Shores Retirement Community for its kind and capable care. The funeral will be held Sunday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m. in All Saints Episcopal Church, 1969 Woodside Lane, Virginia Beach. Visitation will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, in H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., 2002 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Samaritan House, P.O. Box 2400 No. 226 Virginia Beach, VA 23450