Victor Grainger Taylor ’52

Victor Grainger Taylor ’52, of Wilmington, N.C., died Feb. 7 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. He was born in Wilmington Nov. 26, 1931, the son of the late Walker and Fannie Grainger Taylor. Surviving are his wife, Elizabeth English Avera Taylor, 407 Bradley Creek Point, Wilmington, N.C. 28403; daughter, Elizabeth English Taylor; daughter Frances Taylor Andrews (Philip) and children, Catherine Reston, James Cody, and Wilson Taylor Andrews and Phil’s son, John P. Andrews, Jr.; son, Alexander Reston Taylor; son, Victor G. Taylor ’83 (Lori) and son, Victor G. Taylor III; a brother, Walker Taylor III ’48; and a sister, Frances T. Katz. Victor graduated from New Hanover High School and Davidson College. He entered the U.S. Navy through Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and served the next three years as a bridge-watch officer aboard a destroyer and an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean fleets. He was the first commanding officer of the Wilmington based minesweeper, U.S.S. Plover, and later retired as a captain (USNR). He served for eight years on the New Hanover County Board of Education, as a trustee of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center, and as a mentor in “Crossroads,” an inner city tutorial program. He was a volunteer in the Good Shepherd Second Helpings program. He served as a lay minister, Sunday school teacher, and senior warden at St. Andrew’s-On-the-Sound Episcopal Church. Victor was a past commodore of the Carolina Yacht Club and had raced sailboats for over 40 years. He had been a senior tennis doubles champion at Cape Fear Country Club and played baseball in the Old Cape Fear League in the early 1950s. He worked for the International Nickel Company’s corrosion laboratory for 17 years. He joined Tideland Signal Corporation as manager of East Coast and Caribbean sales. He retired in 1996 as vice president and continued as a consultant to the company.