Aug. 21, 1942 – June 10, 2020
James Edward Taylor Sr. was 6 foot 6 and, said his daughter, Melonie Taylor Schneider, "seemed to think he had to have enough personality to fill his entire frame at all times!"
A retired financial planner and investment broker who owned and operated the Buffalo Investment Group before retiring in 2008 to North Carolina, Mr. Taylor "was definitely a very outgoing guy," said his son, James Edward "Jay" Taylor IV.
Until becoming ill five months ago, Mr. Taylor played golf and tennis, bowled and raced remote-controlled sailboats in a league, of which he was president. He "always wanted to be the life of the party," his daughter said. He recently began baking cookies for friends who were ill, and "based on how often he told me he had been baking cookies, I'd say his friend circle was rather large," she said.
James Edward Taylor Sr. died at his home in St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C., on June 10. He was 77.
Mr. Taylor was the first of four children born to Grayce Hughes and James Edward Taylor II of Getzville.
He attended the University at Buffalo, earning an associate's degree in applied science in 1964 and a bachelor's degree in 1966. At UB, he also met his first wife, Elizabeth English, and they married in August 1963.
After completing his degree, Mr. Taylor began a career in banking, but in 1965 was persuaded to join Shearson Hayden Stone as an investment adviser. In 1976, he was promoted to vice president in charge of options and assistant branch manager of Hugh Johnson & Co.
In 1980, Mr. Taylor opened the Buffalo branch of Thompson McKinnon as branch manager, and in 1987 he moved to Dean Witter Reynolds as a vice president. He opened his own consulting firm, Buffalo Investment Group, in 1992.
In 2000, he was elected president of Western New York Chapter of the Financial Planning Association.
From 1969 to 1986, the Taylors lived in Glenwood, south of Colden. In 1986, they moved to West Ferry Street in Buffalo. The couple divorced in 1992.
Starting in the late 1980s, Mr. Taylor was actively involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Western New York, receiving awards for his philanthropic work.
In 2000, he married Wendy Moog; they moved to North Carolina in June 2008. Mr. Taylor retired in 2012, but still oversaw investment portfolios for close friends and family.
His longtime friend Jed Dietrich said Mr. Taylor's "client base was immense, ever since the '60s," and he earned the trust and confidence of everyone whose investments he managed. "I never ran into anybody who didn't like Jim Taylor," Dietrich said.
Mr. Taylor was a natural athlete, and was active all his life in skiing, golfing, yachting, bowling and playing tennis and hockey.
He was a volunteer ski patrol member at both the Bluemont and Kissing Bridge ski resorts in Western New York, and belonged to bowling leagues at the Holland Willows and in Shalotte, N.C. He played hockey as a defenseman well into his 60s with the Buffalo Old Boys Hockey Club in Western New York and Southern Ontario.
"He was very well known in Southern Ontario, and was such a big guy and such a strong athlete in every way," Dietrich said.
A member of the Buffalo Yacht Club, Mr. Taylor enjoyed racing his boat, "My Option," on Lake Erie every Tuesday evening in the summer.
In Western New York, he played tennis at the Village Glen in Williamsville. In North Carolina, he played for the St. James U.S. tennis association team, which often traveled to the state championships. He was a member of the River Oaks Golf Club as well as the Members Club in St. James Plantation, where he also played with a travel group at various local resorts.
In retirement, Mr. Taylor became an avid woodworker, creating trivets and other gifts for family members in a woodworking shop in his garage.
"His grandchildren all have toy boxes Grandpa made," said Melonie Taylor Schneider. "He spent a good deal of time with my son teaching him how to use the equipment in his woodshop and completing several projects."
My Taylor enjoyed traveling. He toured the Western United States and visited several Caribbean islands, Spain, Italy, England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland, Morocco and Tahiti, "although he missed out on his wish to visit Australia," his daughter said.
He also enjoyed working in his garden.
Besides his son and daughter and their mother, Elizabeth, Mr. Taylor is survived by his wife, Wendy; a brother, J. Craig Taylor; twin sisters, Cheryl Maloney and Melinda Becker; two stepdaughters, Jennifer Moog and Jessica Moog; a stepson, Jonathan Moog; 10 grandchildren and nine nieces and nephews.
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