David Taylor

David Tracy Taylor, 53, left us on Tuesday, November 13, 2018. David was born October 10, 1965 to Dorothy Jean and Othia Taylor, in Belleville, Illinois. He was preceded in death by his big brother Jerry. Sadly, David was joined soon after his own passing by his other big brother Chris. David is survived by his parents; his wife, Sharolyn Jones-Taylor; his sister Ursula Taylor; his little brother, Rick Taylor; his extended family and scores of beloved friends.
David will also be joining his "fur son," Coltrane Taylor, who is waiting for him at the Rainbow Bridge, and he will be missed by pups Baker and Jackson Lee Taylor, with whom he frequently boxed and danced around the house.
David was an avid oenophile and certified sommelier who loved guiding others to "just the right wine" for thema�"it was a point of pride with David to be able to point people in the direction of a wine that they were going to savor with others. He was all about the fellowship and joy we find in eating, drinking, and laughing with one another.
He was addicted to travel and loved nothing more than going on the next "adventure" with his wife of 21 years, Shari. They were blessed with being able to travel to France and Spain several times in recent years. Some of those trips they shared with close friends and made priceless memories. On Sundays, Shari and David would have pancakes, and over coffee, David would inevitably ask, "Okay, where are we going next? When can we get back to Barcelona? Or should we go to the Paris next summer?"
You didn't have to know David very well to know that he loved talking politics and current affairs. At times this talking was known to turn to arguing, but David even enjoyed that. Rather than being put out by a political argument, he was energized. Conversations others might find uncomfortable, he found intriguing.
David was a self-professed "big softy" who could not walk away from someone in need. Where some may walk past the homeless gentleman on the corner, David could not. He always wanted to have something to offer; on more than one occasion, when he had no cash, he invited someone who asked for money to come inside a restaurant where he could use his credit card to buy them a meal. One evening, he was late coming home from work because he had stopped to change a tire for an elderly woman stranded on the side of the highway. And for the last few years, David was busy every holiday season collecting coats for the local organization ROCAN, Reaching Our Children and Neighborhoods.
Most of all, David Taylor loved his family and his true friends. He was an amazing husband and a good man who, on a daily basis, made sure Shari knew how much he loved and adored her. He had immeasurable respect for his mother, who raised him and his siblings as a single parent for most of David's youth; he enjoyed traveling to see his dad, where they shared many a characteristic, huge Taylor laugh; he loved talking computer games with Chris and movies with Ursula, and the three of them enjoyed seeing the BIG movies on the SUPER BIG screen; he was so proud of Rick for moving to Vegas to pursue a bigger life for himself.
David graduated from Jacksonville High School and Hendrix College, where he made many good, true, lifelong friends, a number of whom have reached out to David's family, telling them how special David had made them feel and how kind he had been to them at a time when they needed kindness. He spent his junior year of college studying at Oxford University, where even in the one year he spent there, he made friends with whom he stayed in touch until the end of his life. But that's what David did: he reached out. He made friends where others made acquaintances. He had a big smile and a bigger heart. He will be so missed by so many.
David's family would like to express their gratitude for the excellent attention he received at UAMS, especially to Dr. T. W. Morris, his very caring neurosurgeon, and to the ICU nursing staff who not only cared for David, but supported his family through this unfathomable time.
Memorials in David's name can be directed to ROCAN at 525 W. Capitol, Little Rock, AR 72201, or The Van at http://itsthevan.org .