Harland Taylor

(From Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home)

Harland J. Taylor, age 101 and 11 months, was born February 10, 1924, in Yuma, Colorado, to Clarence E. and Lois Izetta (Hopkins) Taylor, the second of seven children. 

He graduated high school in Goodland Kansas in 1941 and married Muriel Wood on October 2, 1946, and they were married for 79 years and three months before he passed away. They lived for 30 years in and near Goodland, Kansas, where they farmed and raised beef cattle and had two daughters, Teriann Jenkins, and Traci (David) Henson. In 1976, they moved about halfway from Goodland, Kansas, and where Muriel was from, which was Andalusia, Alabama, and settled in Aurora Missouri and continued to raise beef cattle (this time cows and calves in a pasture instead of steers in a feedlot) on a farm there. 

In 1984 they moved to the panhandle of Florida at Crestview and lived there for a few years, and that was just a little over an hour from where Muriel grew up and then they built a house in Andalusia in the 90’s and lived there until returning to Southwest Missouri full-time about 15 years ago. They enjoyed traveling all over the country throughout the years in the motorhome, visiting many national parks, and many World War I and World War II museums. They lived on their own until about three years ago when they moved together into an assisted living facility where they remained until Harland passed away.

Harland was survived by his wife, Muriel; both his daughters named above; two grandchildren, Jordan (Adam) McMasters, and Bo (Maci) Jenkins; one sister, Bebe Young; one brother, Donald (Barbara) Taylor; one sister-in-law, Anna Taylor; five great-grandchildren, Cainon, Ryatt, Sawyer, Jayce and Nevaeh.

Harland was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Clinton Taylor; three sisters, Dorothy Jackson, Marjorie Hillebrenner, and Clarice Finley, and one grandson, Todd Jenkins.

Harland volunteered into the Army Air Core during World War II before it became the Air Force. He trained to become a pilot and flew a P51 Mustang. Thankfully, the war ended before he was ever shipped overseas so his dream of becoming a pilot was realized, and he was never in combat. He enjoyed being a pilot for about 60 years, taking every chance he could to get up in the air and our family took many trips when my sister and I were growing up and we got to see a lot of cool places.

Harland attended the First Baptist Churches in Goodland, Kansas, Aurora, Missouri, and Andalusia, Alabama and knew Jesus and knew where he was going when the end came. His body was donated to science, because if you live 101 years and 11 months, you really should be studied! This wasn’t something he decided, but my sister and I agreed it was a fitting thing to do since he had planned to be cremated. We will receive his cremated remains when they are finished with any study. Also, if you knew my dad, you knew he was frugal, and this was without cost to his family and he would’ve appreciated that! But anyway, we had a military honors ceremony for him, and we didn’t do a traditional audible eulogy, so here is an obituary:

So, they say that little dash (-) between the date of birth, and the date of death is what’s important. And it is! To condense 101 years and 11 months into a little post is impossible and so insufficient!

My father, Harland J. Taylor, passed away in January just before turning 102. Almost all of our family lives away, out of state and were already planning to come this summer for Mom’s 100th birthday so we elected to wait and have a Celebration of Life coinciding with that same trip for our out-of-state family. This was unlike most celebrations of life usually are, as it was several months after his passing and it was family only, and held at my sister’s lake house where we were enjoying a family reunion.