Rogers E. Taylor

Rogers E. Taylor joined God's Heavenly Choir, Tuesday, June 17 following a lengthy illness.
Rogers was born September 10, 1932 in Anniston, Alabama to the late William Arthur Taylor and Lona "Bava" Huston Taylor. Following high school he briefly attended Snead Junior College in Boaz, Alabama where he met his bride of 62 years, Maye Dempsey Taylor. Soon thereafter Rogers was recruited by former Anniston resident, Russell Baker and Owensboro sports enthusiasts, Donald "Quack" Butler, to play basketball and baseball for Kentucky Wesleyan College where he received a full athletic scholarship.
While at KWC Rogers played for Coach "Bullet" Wilson, became captain of the team, was voted MVP numerous times and at that time was the only KWC athlete to earn letters in two sports all four years of eligibility. At one point Rogers led the nation in free throw shooting percentage among colleges and universities. With Rogers as Co-Captain the 1956-57 KWC Basketball Panthers were NCAA National Champion Runners-Up. Post-graduation Rogers played semi-pro baseball for the Sun-Beam Bakers and Honey-Krust Bakers of the Ohio Valley League.

Rogers was one of Owensboro's first State Farm Insurance Agents (1960-2009) maintaining a very loyal clientele from his office located on the corner of Third and Allen for most of those years.
Rogers had a beautiful voice, loved to sing and had a faithful following. He was often called upon to lead the singing for various churches, revivals, funerals and as a guest singer for special events in the Owensboro, Daviess County area. An avid sportsman, Rogers coached Little League and Babe Ruth Baseball in both City and County leagues, taking his teams to several regional and state tournaments over the years. He enjoyed the outdoors, pursuing hunting, fishing, and golfing with equal enthusiasm.

Rogers loved his God, loved his family, loved his friends, loved a good joke and never met a stranger. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and three sisters.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Maye Dempsey Taylor; his sons, Dale Taylor and Chris Taylor (Linda) of Brentwood, TN; his grandchildren, Matthew Taylor (Larielle), Stephanie Taylor Graves (Adam), Allison Taylor, Paige Taylor, Hannah Taylor, Ethan Taylor and one great grandchild, Sophie Caneel Graves.

The funeral service, officiated by Chaplin Paul Gatewood, will be at 10:00 a.m. Saturday at Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory, where visitation will be from 4:00 until 8:00 p.m. Friday and after 9:00 a.m. Saturday.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association 101 NW 1st St #203, Evansville, IN 47708.