Walker Taylor III ’48

Walker Taylor III ’48, of Wilmington, N.C., died Sept. 18, 2012. He was born in Wilmington, N.C., on Dec. 14, 1924. He was the son of the late Walker Taylor, Jr. and Fannie Grainger Taylor. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Victor Grainger Taylor ’52. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Ethel Avera Taylor, 1430 Commonwealth Dr., Wilmington, NC 28403; his children, English Taylor Ball (Robert O. Ball III), Katherine Taylor Cammack ’82 (J. Chris Cammack III), Walker Taylor IV (Amy Crittenberger Taylor ’83), and Allen Avera Taylor (Gillian); nine grandchildren, Robert O. Ball IV, William Taylor Ball, Caroline English Ball, Walker Jackson Taylor ’12, Nicholas Bates Taylor ’16, Juliet Marie Taylor, Andrew Allen Taylor, Margaret Avera Taylor, and Charlotte Norrie Taylor; and his sister, Frances Taylor Katz. Taylor was a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy and Davidson. He was awarded a doctor of canon law from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. Taylor served as a merchant officer in the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II and as a U.S. Naval officer in the Korean War, where he received a commendation for bravery during enemy action off of North Korea. He was trustee of the General Theological Seminary in New York, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. He was aide to the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States and was twice elected to the executive council of the national church, where he served as chairman of the finance committee. He was a deputy to seven general conventions of the Episcopal Church, a member of the Prayer Book committee, and a senior warden of St. James Church. He was executive officer for mutual responsibility in the Anglican Communion and staff director of services to dioceses for the Episcopal Church. He was chairman of the board of Cornelia Nixon Davis Healthcare, president of Babies Hospital Foundation, chairman of the board of Wachovia Bank in Wilmington, member of the standing committee and chaplain of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati, and a director of the Brigade Boy’s and Girl’s Club, which was started by his grandfather in 1896. For over 60 years, Taylor was president of the Walker Taylor Agency, which was founded by his grandfather in 1866, and after the agency’s merger with Arthur J. Gallagher & Company, became area chairman. Taylor at age 84 became the oldest person in the United States to earn the CPCU designation. He was past president of the North Carolina Azalea Festival and the Committee of 100 for Wilmington Industrial Development and Wilmington Excellence at UNC Wilmington. He received the Civitans Citizen of the Year Award and the Wilmington Razor Walker Award at UNC Wilmington.