The Biography of James (Jim) Dean Taylor
as of March 2002:

On a sand storm afternoon March 8, 1940, James Dean Taylor was born in Sweetwater, Texas the third child of William Colin Taylor II and Vivian Barnes. A year later the family would move to Lubbock, Texas where the father Mr. Taylor would resume his 40 year career with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.

The subject of this sketch’s fourth great grandfather William Taylor from North Carolina migrated with his wife Nancy Page, South Carolina to Georgia where William T. Taylor was born. William T. Taylor married Tabitha McNaughton, then moved from Macon County, Georgia to Winn Parrish, Louisiana in 1859. The fifth of 13 children, William Colin Taylor "I" was born in 1868 and married Cleora Victorine Agee in Hopkins, County, Texas in 1898. The father William Colin Taylor II was born in 1908 just prior to his father’s unexpected death in Fort Worth, Texas.

James grew up in west Texas in Lubbock, Texas until 1948 and then moved to Abilene, Texas where he was to attend the Central school. The father William Taylor and wife Vivian raised their three children in this thriving oil boom town that was considered the key city of west Texas.

Mr. William Colin Taylor II wanted his sons to experience the rural farm life that was so important to him, so he moved the family 15 miles south of town in the summer of 1954. On the three acres of land with a barn, the two sons James and older brother William Colin III lived the ways of country life. They attended the Wylie school where they became active in the Future Farmers of America. They raised hogs, a calf, and chickens, and became active in the scouts as members of Order of Arrow. They both learned the rural life of chores to feed the animals and keep up the garden of okra, squash, brussels sprouts, onions and tomatoes. James mailed off for the chicks and picked them up at the freight station where they were brought home to his own chicken coop. He raised the chickens for the Taylor family’s Sunday dinner and sold the eggs for 25 cents a dozen.

James’ older sister Dorothy was to graduate from Abilene High in ’51, attend the Midwestern College in Wichita Falls and met her future husband Billy Keith Wolfe. Mr. Wolfe was to have a long successful career in building construction management moving to various cities across the country to finally settle and retire in Amarillo, Texas.

During high school years, James was to work on summer jobs delivering telegrams for Western Union and selling subscriptions for newspaper and magazines from door to door. As outstanding salesman in 1956, he was able to win an all expense paid vacation to Mexico City.

William, the brother, was a future farmer milk-judging specialist at Wylie High School and was a student of Mr. Bill Scott the famed Vocational Agriculture teacher who was to have a distinguished career at Abilene High and ACC. William graduated from Wylie High, attended ACC and was to start a two-year hitch with the Navy at Galveston. After the Navy, William was to have a successful 35 year working career with the Square D Company.

Upon graduating from dear old Abilene High in May 1958, James moved to the west Texas plains city of Lubbock to attend Texas Tech. Starting in the school of Engineering for two years, he then switched to the business school for a major in Accounting.

With a golden opportunity, James’ father was promoted to the Telephone Transmission Engineer job in Lubbock. So the father was able to move to Lubbock with his faithful wife Vivian.

James studied hard at Texas Tech while working as an exterminating “Orkin Man” and various other odd jobs after school. He was fortunate to land the mail clerk job at the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company for his last 2 ½ years of schooling. In the month of January 1963, James completed his courses for a Bachelors of Business Administration with a degree in Accounting.

In February of ’63, James volunteered for the U.S. Army Reserve and then left to Fort Polk, Louisiana for a six month hitch in the active reserves. Upon completion, James went back to Lubbock to visit his mother and father.

On September 10, 1963, James leaving in his white 1960 Corvair, waved goodbye to his mother and father as he traveled across the western desert route 66 on his way to San Francisco, California. He had accepted an opportunity to work as an auditor for the Travelers Insurance Company. James became “Jim” at this point in his life where he was to discover the big city life by the bay. Life was so different. There were many things to do and see. The job was great, but the pay was just not enough. SF was expensive and the prices were going up. After 11 months Jim headed back to Texas.

On August 17, 1964 Jim went to work for Dallas Title and Guaranty Company as the Field Auditor. On this day he met his future wife Nancy who was working in the accounting department. Nine months later they had their first date on June 5, 1965. Then, eleven months later they were married at Don/Patsy Moore’s house on Good Friday April 8, 1966.

Jim and Nancy loved each other dearly. With hard earned savings, Jim was able to buy his first home at 3310 Ridgemont in Irving, Texas. It was here that sons Michael and Robert were to be raised until March of 1972. An upgrade to the other side of town landed their newly built home at 1124 Jeffery Trail where Jim and Nancy have resided for 30 years.

Jim moved to a new General Ledger Accountant job at Placid Oil Company in downtown Dallas in February 1966. He remained there until October 1968 when he was to join the high tech company Recognition Equipment as the General Ledger Accountant. Within a year Jim was promoted to Cost Accounting Supervisor and later on to Assistant Controller. Jim learned the manufacturing business accounting and was to remain with REI until the spring of 1988. A brief two month job with ElectroCom Automation was succeeded with a move to work at the huge Compaq Computer Corporation in Houston, Texas. Jim commuted on weekends back to Dallas while his youngest son Robert was to attend his last year at MacArthur High School.

That year at Compaq was hard for Jim and his wife Nancy as he was to work long hours and be able to come home from Houston on weekends to visit the family. A decision was made by Jim in September 1989 to return to Dallas at his home and start work again for the successful ElectroCom Automation Company that had just landed a lucrative U.S. Postal Service sorting machine contract.

Jim continued to work for ElectroCom (later known as Siemens Dematic) up to retirement on March 8, 2002 after nearly 13 years of service with this company. Jim’s business working career began with that first job at Travelers in 1963. He had worked a total of 39 years in the corporate accounting profession.

Nancy continues with her wonderful job at city of Irving Independent School District (Presently at A.S. Johnson Elementary) where she has worked the past 18 years.

Jim, in retirement works around the house, travels with Nancy and his brother William III during the summer, and continues his genealogy research that was started by his father William Colin Taylor II in 1975.

End