Stanley Earl Taylor

After many successful years battling a cancer diagnosis, Stanley Earl Taylor quietly passed away in the early hours of June 1. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lynn Taylor, daughters; Kathy and Diana, grandchildren; Simon, Linden, and Carsten, his sister Margaret, and several nieces and nephews. His family extends their gratitude to the medical specialists in the Valley and Victoria who supported him over the years, the staff at the Comox Valley Hospital, and the exceptional compassion and care shown by the nurses and support staff at Hospice at The Views Palliative Care Unit in Comox.

Earl was born the youngest of 4 children in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, in November 1948, to Ina and Stan Taylor. Having three older sisters; Charlotte, Dorothy, and Marg, meant he essentially had four moms looking out for him. At an early age, he learned the importance of thinking about and helping one’s neighbours. One time he was asked by an older neighbour in Rosetown to run to the grocery store to pick up a few items as well as pick up her mail. On his return this neighbour gave him some money for his trouble. He was firmly told by his mother that he was not to be take money for such tasks and that it was just the neighbourly thing to do. The next time the neighbour asked him to go to the store, he said he would but that he would not accept any money; when he returned with her groceries, she gave him a cookie, which he decided was ok to take. Earl’s sisters were quite musical and loved singing and harmonizing together. Through this, Earl learned his appreciation of music and how to play guitar. Living on a farm, Earl was not afraid of hard work, and he often recalled one hot summer he was hired to paint barns. He finished school in 1969 and began a career in the military as an air traffic controller. In 1971 he married Mary Lynn Taylor in Foxwarren, Manitoba, and moved with his new wife to CFB Cold Lake, where Kathy was born in 1975. After a posting to Winnipeg in 1976, Diana was born in 1977. In 1980 all four moved back to CFB Cold Lake, where they remained until 1987 when they moved to Vancouver Island to live in the Comox Valley. Earl worked in the control tower until 1992 and then was posted back to CFB Cold Lake. This time his family stayed on the Island and made do with visits for the next two years. A highlight of his time in the military was the two six-month tours he served with the Canadian contingent of the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. Mary Lynn joined him for 2 weeks during his second tour when they enjoyed a six-day Nile cruise and visited different sites in Cairo. He was posted back to CFB Comox in July 1994 and decided to take the force reduction program, concluding his military career in December of that year at the early age of 46. Looking for something to keep him busy during the day, he then took on a job driving cars for Budget, a position he kept for 16 years. Earl did several trips away in the last decades of his life, visiting Germany for the birth of two of his grandkids and enjoying a cruise with Mary Lynn through the inside passage from Vancouver to Juneau, Alaska and back. The cruise was enjoyed so much that two more cruises were done: Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver via the Panama Canal and the Hawaiian Islands tour from Vancouver and back. It was upon his return from Hawaii that trouble with a kidney stone also showed his kidney cancer. In his last years, he always looked forward to visits from his kids and grandkids, and he continued to enjoy watching the Blue Jays, curling tournaments, and British crime shows. An occasional stop in at the Courtenay legion to visit with buddies there was also enjoyed. An early morning coffee by the ocean while watching the dogs out for their walks was a routine part of the day. Over his life he had several dogs, and we hope he is now throwing a stick to Tuffy, Bilbo, Bella, Aleeka, and Toba, all of whom passed on before him. 

Earl requested that there be no service.