Bayard Victor Taylor
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Obituaries
Steamboat Pilot & Today - July 24, 2023
December 2, 1939 – May 26, 2023
Vic Taylor was born in December 1939 to Gerald and Jeanette Taylor. The Taylor family home has been in Chester County, Pa since the 1600’s. The ancestry includes the noted 19th century author, poet and diplomat Bayard Taylor and Colonel Charles F. Taylor, commander of Pennsylvania’s Bucktail Regiment, killed at Gettysburg. Jeanette’s home was in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Vic enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1957; he served in California, Hawaii and the Far East. Following his release from active duty in 1960, he moved to Miami Beach, Florida to make a career in the resort hotel business. He worked at the world famous Hotel Fontainebleau for six years. During that period he also attended the University of Miami and graduated a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1965.
In 1966, with the war in Vietnam escalating, Vic re-joined the Marine Corps for combat duty. He served as a rifle platoon and company commander with the 2nd Battalion, Fourth Marines – “The Magnificent Bastards”. During 1967 and 1968 Vic was wounded twice and awarded the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
Vic remained in the Marines after the war; serving in various infantry and reconnaissance units and Headquarters in Washington, DC. In 1977, while serving as a tactics instructor at the officer’s Basic School in Quantico, VA, Vic created and directed the Marine Corps Infantry Officers Course. This innovative course expanded, flourished and is credited for much of the professionalism and battlefield success of modern Marine operations. For this contribution as well as other career achievements, Vic was honored in the U.S. Congressional Record of September 2005.
In 1985 Vic retired from active duty and moved to Routt County, Colorado. He built Taylor Canyon Ranch near Clark, and established Vic Taylor-Outfitter, Inc. For the next ten years, the business provided big game hunts and wilderness horseback pack trips from Vic’s ranch and remote camps along the western slope of the Continental Divide.
Along the way, Vic’s advice and consultation were solicited by Gulf Insurance Company’s fledgling outdoor insurance Program. Gulf’s Program grew rapidly in size and scope. Vic founded Taylor and Associates, Inc. to meet the growing need for more comprehensive loss control and risk management services. The company operated nationwide and served a variety of clients in the outdoor recreation field. Vic was an instructor for Certified Risk Managers, International and adviser to four major insurance carriers. He was a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, the Colorado Outfitters Association and the Marine Corps University Foundation. Vic is survived by his son, Scott Victor Taylor. A Celebration of his life will be held July 30, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at CR 56 and Bedell Lane. Fun shoot out 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. / Salute to Vic 5 p.m. / Dinner 6 p.m. / Remembrance 7:30 p.m. Donations: Vic’s Memorial at Mountain Valley Bank or at the Clark Store. Set up by Travis Bedell and Doug Scherar
Epitaph (by Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1894)
Under the wide and starry sky, dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die. And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse ‘grave for me:
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter, home from the hill.”
Obituaries
