Edward John Taylor Sr.

Edward J. Taylor Sr., 81, went to be with our Lord on Friday, January 5, 2024, after a long battle with COPD. He was a loving husband, father, brother, cousin, uncle, and friend, but to his beloved thirteen grandkids he was known as “Pop-Pop”!  He was born on Monday, December 7, 1942, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Edward Murray Taylor and Mary Margaret “Dorothy” Hughes.  He was an older brother to Cathy by 8 years and he always referred to her as his “kid sister.”  Eddie was quite a character as a child. They compared him to Dennis the Menace, always telling big stories, getting in fights for just reasons and having fun.  When the time came for his sister Cathy to be born, his mom had to beg family members to keep Eddie, but no one wanted to do it! Reluctantly, his Aunt Anna agreed. She often told the story about how one day Eddie ran into her house and told her some boy was going to knock on the door soon after and tell her that Eddie punched another boy in the face, but it wasn’t him who did it.  It was someone else who did it that looked just like him, talked like him, and was wearing the same clothes as him!  

In his youth, Eddie was a gifted athlete and baseball was the sport he loved to play the most. He was a superstar player in high-school and there were many news articles about him in the local paper. He was so talented that professional scout from the Milwaukee Braves came out to watch him play.  However, it didn’t work out.  He also loved music and enjoyed going to dances. He was even on the most popular TV show in America in the 1950’s, called American Bandstand, where he danced to his favorite doo-wops.

After Eddie graduated from Woodrow Wilson high school in 1961, he was drafted by the Army during the Vietnam War and although he was prepped on several occasions to be deployed, he never had to go overseas. After boot camp, he was stationed at Kirkland Base in Albuquerque where he frequently attended military dances. One night he met a beautiful, brown-eyed girl named Rose Marie Ortega, the daughter of a Baptist preacher, and who wasn’t officially allowed to go to dances. But God works in mysterious ways sometimes and after dating each other for 2 years, they decided to get married on July 9^th, 1966, at Faith Chapel. They moved to Pennsauken New Jersey three days later where he worked for Allegheny Airlines, which eventually became US Airways, for 32 years.

After the birth of his daughters Kim and Tami, the family needed a bigger house. Eddie found his dream home in Delran, away from the city where he could ride horses, grow chickens, rabbits, and have many dogs and cats. His love for animals was at the core of the man he was – always bringing a dog or cat home when he had the chance.  He believed animals always had the best judgement of character!  If an animal didn’t like a certain person, there was likely a good reason!  His children inherited this passion as well, and they have many animals to show for it! 

It was also in New Jersey where Eddie discovered his love for gardening and even had competitions with his neighbors over whose garden was bigger and more beautiful.

Eddie was a family man, always thinking about the wellbeing of everyone before himself. When his mother couldn’t take care of herself, he built an expansion for her at his home and later on he did it again for his mother-in-law when she couldn’t live by herself in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Eddie loved his wife Rose Marie with everything he had! For over 57 years of marriage, he consistently made sure she was taken care of in every way, and always showering her with gifts on her birthday and wedding anniversary, while getting the best deals when possible!

Pop-Pop was in his glory when all his kids, grandkids and great grandkids were around him.  He would call his kids and grandkids daily and say, “come on over, everybody’s here but you!”

As his health got worse in recent years, it wasn't easy for him to get around, so he became the permanent receptionist at the Taylor household, always answering the phone with a friendly "yello". Two of his most favorite gadgets were his Alexa speaker and his iPad.  Once he discovered how to use Facetime a few years ago, his daily routine consisted of facetiming his sister, Cathy, cousins Dottie and Karen and other lifelong friends like Freddie and Paul Maloney, and Anthony Marino.  Sometimes his daughter Renee, his granddaughters Jessica and Kyleigh, and his grandson Ayden, would get surprised Facetime calls as well, even during work or school hours. 

If you knew Eddie, you knew that he was seriously devoted to the Philadelphia's Eagles and the Philadelphia Phillies, and he never missed a game!  He graciously passed his passion onto his wife, all his children, grandchildren, sons and daughter-in-law.  If there was a football game on, everyone was always welcome to come over and watch it on TV, if you weren’t cheering for the other team. 

As part of his retirement from US Airways, he received a lifetime award of free airfare for him and Rose to anywhere in the world, but he would rather be home with the whole family.  After calling it a career at US Airways in 1998, Eddie didn’t stay retired for long, as his very social and extroverted personality quickly landed him a job as the Service Manager at Don Chalmers Ford where he worked for over 15 years.  He was known as everyone’s friend, the go-to person for good advice, a mentor, and a fatherly figure to so many!  

Eddie loved food. Especially Italian and New Mexican dishes, including hoagies, cheese steaks, tasty cakes, jelly donuts from Dunkin Donuts, deviled eggs, panzerotti’s (calzones), spaghetti with meatballs and sausage, and carne adovada with red Chile, to name a few.  He commonly asked his wife and children, “what do you feel like eatin’ for dinner?” If he knew you were going over to a certain favorite restaurant, he might have called to place his food order with you ahead of time, and he would say “my treat,” so you could pick up food for you and him.

Eddie had no problem telling you what was on his mind, and he loved to share his belief in Jesus because he wanted everyone he knew to be saved and go to heaven.  He was also very passionate about politics, and he would often share his conservative values openly with everyone, including the neighbors, visiting nurses, physical therapists and all who entered his home!  

Edward John Taylor Sr. leaves a legacy that will never be forgotten to his wife Rose Marie of 57 years, 4 children, Kim (Emilio), Tami, Eddie (Sonia), Renee (Hector), his sister (Cathy), cousins (Karen, Dottie, Jimmy, Danny), nieces, nephews, 13 grandchildren (Joey, Jessica, Vinny, Ryan, Neal, John, Marco, JuJu, Ruben, Kyleigh, Ayden, Ellie, and Maddie) and 2 great grandchildren (Paxton and Kaci)!  They all were by far his most precious gift to him, and he was the happiest when they were with him at his home.  They were all his pride and joy. He told Rose Marie if he knew grandkids were going to be this great, he would’ve skipped the kids and go straight to them!

Words cannot express how much his family and friends are going to miss Eddie.  There will forever be a void in all of our hearts and in our home, until we see Pop-Pop again in heaven.  We will hold onto our faith in Jesus with white-knuckle-intensity, as He is the only one that will get us through this time.  

Visitation will be held Saturday, January 13, 2024, 4 p.m. followed by a Celebration of Life service at 5 p.m. at Cornerstone Community Church, 2003 Southern Blvd. SE #130, Rio Rancho, NM 87124.

To send cards to the family, please mail to Renee Dorbecker c/o Rose Marie Taylor PO Box 56851, Albuquerque, NM 87187

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Psalms 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit.”