TAYLOR, Maurice Harold

Today's News-Herald, Lake Havasu City, Arizona Published Sunday, May 10, 2009 Maurice (Morrie) Harold Taylor, 85, died May 1, 2009, in Lake Havasu City. He was born Nov. 25, 1923 in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Harold and Gertrude Taylor. He married Bernice H. Taylor on March 30, 1946 in Silverton, Ore. Maurice served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He had an "ear" for music, played the alto saxophone, and volunteered to be a member of the U.S. Navy Band. The Navy ironically assigned him to specialized training as a shipboard sonar operator. He sailed the Caribbean Sea in a submarine chaser and the Pacific Ocean on a destroyer escort protecting U.S. ships sailing between the tropical Marianas Islands and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. After World War II, he went back to school and earned a degree in Wildlife Biology from Oregon State University. He worked for the Oregon State Game Commission, Government of Guam and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He lived in Michigan, Oregon, Guam, New York, Hawaii and California before retiring to Lake Havasu City 18 years ago. Maurice was a devoted and faithful husband and father as well as a magician and avid storyteller. His love of the outdoors permeated his hobbies and his vocation. As an avid outdoorsman, he passed on this love of wildlife and care for the environment to his children and grandchildren. He was always willing to help others including leading a troop of orphaned Boy Scouts in Oregon, teaching firearms safety and helping build “underwater homes” to improve fish habitat in Lake Havasu. While in Hawaii he was instrumental in preventing Japan from building a Super Port on American Samoa, thus preserving an Underwater Reserve for diving and snorkeling. He enjoyed photography and traveled the entire world. Maurice was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, and infant son. He is survived by daughter, Jackie, Lake Havasu City; son, Scott (Jeni) Taylor and grandchildren; Travis and Emily, of Anchorage, Alaska; and sister Betty O’Connor, of Grand Rapids, Mich.; plus many nieces and nephews scattered around the United States. A Celebration of his Life will be held Monday at 5:30 p.m., in The Lake Havasu room at the Quality Inn, 271 South Lake Havasu Ave. Words of comfort will be by Margge Grounds, of Lake Havasu Unity Church, with colors being presented by The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 9401 of Lake Havasu City. Memorials may be made in Maurice’s honor to the Unity Church of Lake Havasu, P.O. Box 1734, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86405 or to National Wildlife Federation, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20109-5362. Arrangements were entrusted to Lake Havasu Mortuary & Crematory. Your thoughts and condolences can be sent to the family at www.lakehavasumortuary.com.