Kelcie Hartley, Daily Herald Springville resident Jack Taylor celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, with a display of memories and drive-by acknowledgements from friends and neighbors. Taylor turned 100 on Saturday.
Springville resident Jack Taylor celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, with a display of memories and drive-by acknowledgements from friends and neighbors. Taylor turned 100 on Saturday.
It was a party a century in the making. Springville resident Jack Sterling Taylor celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday with family, friends and many community members.
Approximately 80 people showed up to meet Taylor and wish him a happy birthday. The large group gathered around Taylor’s front yard to sing “Happy Birthday” and “He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” while he waved from his porch.
“I haven’t given my birthday any thought at all,” said Taylor. “It feels about the same as it did at 99.”
After seeing the group of people who took time out of their Friday to celebrate his birthday, Taylor was amazed.
“I didn’t know that many people were interested.”
Kelcie Hartley, Daily Herald Jack Taylor's family set up a memorabilia table of memories and keepsakes from throughout his life for his 100th birthday on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Springville.
Jack Taylor's family set up a memorabilia table of memories and keepsakes from throughout his life for his 100th birthday on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Springville.
The birthday event was organized by Taylor’s four daughters Deb Nielsen, Judy Cox, Sharron Mead and Sandy Taylor.
“Turning 100 is a big deal, and I think from the flags people know he’s a Vet,” Cox said. “Of course, all our neighbors came. This whole neighborhood knows him. He’s been here for 29 years, and he’s been a part of two different church communities. They all know him.”
Cox said the community has celebrated parties for Taylor’s 90th and 95th birthdays.
“We just put the word out in the neighborhood and the ward that we wanted some flags. I called my son, and he had a friend who has a sign business, so we got these and our ward provided cupcakes, and I bought popsicles. Everyone just said, ‘let’s do this.’ Everyone has been very supportive.”
Taylor was born and raised in Utah while his parents worked at a mine in American Fork Canyon. Taylor and his mother moved to San Francisco during the Great Depression where a youthful Taylor looked for work. It was there he began his Air Force career before becoming a bomber pilot in World War II. He and nine other men were a part of the U.S. Eighth Air Force 491st Bombardment Group stationed in England. Taylor was the co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator.
Kelcie Hartley, Daily Herald Springville resident Jack Taylor celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, with a display of memories and drive-by acknowledgements from friends and neighbors. Taylor turned 100 on Saturday.
Springville resident Jack Taylor celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, with a display of memories and drive-by acknowledgements from friends and neighbors. Taylor turned 100 on Saturday.
“I went over, and we did our best to discourage a guy named Hitler,” Taylor said. “Apparently it worked.”
Taylor’s family set up tables full of memorabilia from throughout his life. There were photos of his time serving in the war, his bomber jacket, several different uniforms, medals and pins.
“During his Air Force career, he went from pilot to senior pilot to command pilot,” Mead said of her father. “He enlisted in World War II in the Air Force because he didn’t want to fight in the mud with a rifle. He wanted to fly and started training as a fighter pilot, but they needed more bomber pilots, so he became a bomber pilot.”
Mead pointed out the green Army Air Corps jacket and boots Taylor wore before the U.S. Air Force changed their uniform color from green to blue.
Both Mead and Cox said their father wouldn’t tell them stories of his war days until they were adults.
Kelcie Hartley, Daily Herald Jack Taylor's family and friends decorated the entire front yard for his 100th birthday celebration on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Springville.
Jack Taylor's family and friends decorated the entire front yard for his 100th birthday celebration on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Springville.
“Dad talked about — there was a time where they were bombing Germany and flying back to England, but they couldn’t get back. There was too much weather for them to get back, so they had to find somewhere else to land. Their orders were, ‘On your own.’ There were thousands of planes in the sky trying to find somewhere to land and they were all running out of gas. To dad it was, ‘Yeah, we got to land in France. I got to use my French.’ He was very positive in his retelling,” Mead said.
She explained that Tom Edwards, the pilot in Taylor’s crew and a family friend, told her parts of that story that her father never mentioned.
“They found a fighter strip, which, if you’re landing a big bomber in itself, it’s pretty dangerous,” Mead said. “Tom told the emotional part of it because he was the pilot and had to decide when he butted into line to get on the ground. He said that we he butted in to land on the ground, there was a fighter that got flipped over, and the pilot died because of their landing. There was no time to deal with rescues. The bulldozers just pushed the wreckage to the side and there was carnage everywhere.”
Taylor and Edwards remained friends throughout their lives before Edwards died eight years ago. Taylor is the last living member of his crew.
After fighting in WWII, Taylor remained in the Air Force Reserves for 20 years. He went to school on the G.I. Bill at the University of California, Berkley, where he lettered in fencing and obtained a degree in science in 1949. During his time in San Francisco, he met his wife, Lee, in 1953. Taylor became the chief electrical engineer for Palo Alto, California, and retired after 38 years. His family moved back to Utah in 1993 and has lived in Springville ever since.
Kelcie Hartley, Daily Herald Two different uniforms Jack Taylor wore during his time in the U.S. Air Force on display at his 100th birthday celebration in Springville on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
Two different uniforms Jack Taylor wore during his time in the U.S. Air Force on display at his 100th birthday celebration in Springville on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
All of Taylor’s daughters have a favorite memory their father, almost all of which surrounded his time the scouts.
“My dad was a scout master, and he’s got four daughters and he used to tell the story that he, a man with four daughters, was called to be a scout master,” Cox said. “So, here he was trying to teach boys all the scouting stuff, and every time they would do an activity like camping or hiking, he felt honor bound to do the same with us. So, we went camping and hiking. We learned to make ropes and start fires because if he taught it to the boys, he taught it to us.”
“I went backpacking in Yosemite with my dad and it was just him and me,” Nielsen recalled. “That was pretty amazing because he was a scout master, and I thought this would be no problem at all, but we went and got completely lost. We were going around in circles. I forget what we were trying to find, but we found a great place to camp, and we had a really nice time. It was a really good memory. It was a special thing that just the two of us did.”
“He taught me how to throw,” Mead said. “We were camping at a lake, and dad was skipping rocks. I had never thrown before and he taught me how by skipping rocks. Ever since then, I played sports growing up and learned really well how to throw. I tried teaching my kids, but I was not nearly successful as he was.”
“He taught us how to camp because he wanted to give us equal time with him,” Sandy Taylor said. “So, we went on the trails they did. One of my favorite memories is when we went backpacking in Yosemite and hiked up to a meadow that had boysenberry bushes. So, for breakfast, we had pancakes with fresh boysenberries.”
Kelcie Hartley, Daily Herald The bomber jacket and cap Jack Taylor wore during World War II as a bomber pilot on display at his 100th birthday celebration in Springville on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
The bomber jacket and cap Jack Taylor wore during World War II as a bomber pilot on display at his 100th birthday celebration in Springville on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022.
Jack Taylor’s daughters described him as intelligent, dedicated and happy man.
“I love his whole attitude,” Sandy Taylor said. “He wakes up happy and is always singing. You never know what is going to pop into his head. Yahoo is his catch phrase. I don’t know about its initiation but anytime you tell him anything, he yells yahoo. He’s just happy.”
After the entire neighborhood finished singing Jack Taylor happy birthday, he saluted the group and yelled “yahoo” back to them — appreciating those who recognized his life.
Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.
Copyright © Daily Herald | www.heraldextra.com | 1200 Towne Centre Blvd. STE 1058, Provo, UT 84601