John Wesley Taylor Jr.was born January 6, 1930 in Elliot Miss., to the union of John Wesley Taylor Sr. and Bettie Mae Brown Taylor. He was the oldest of 10 children. John had professed his faith in Christ at an early age and joined Galilee Baptist Church when his family moved to St. Louis.
He was educated in the St. Louis Public Schools and graduated from Vashon High School. He attended Hubbard Business College, educating himself to run the family business, Taylor Sausage Company. He served in the U.S. Army, receiving an honorable discharge.
Taylor Sausage Company is one of the oldest black-owned businesses in St. Louis, starting in 1938. He became president of the company following the death of his father in 1963, taking leadership of the company known by its slogan “Hog enough to want your business, man enough to treat you right.”
He married Mary Ann Walker on January 2, 1955 and raised five children. He loved life and family and enjoyed many family reunions and his legendary Memorial Day picnic, which always featured live music by talented family musicians. He enjoyed following the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club Football Eagles and the Cardinal Ritter College Prep Football Lions as recent as the Friday before his death. Golf was a passionate pastime for “Sausage” Taylor, as his friends nicknamed him.
He was president of the school district Parent Teacher Congress, served on the Yeatman Health Board and Missouri Mental Health Board and was inducted into the Gateway Classic Walk of Fame. He also served as president of the Lamb’s Inc. and was a life member of Prince Hall Grand Lodge.
Early Monday morning of September 27, 2010 John transitioned peacefully into eternal rest. He was preceded in death by his father and mother, five sisters (Ernestine Taylor, Wilma Staton, Evelyn McKinley, Peggy Ann Taylor and Lorene Ray), two brothers (Lead and Eugene Taylor) and son, Ray Anthony Wilkes.
Cherishing his memory are his loving wife of 55 years Mary Ann Taylor; daughters Bettie Calvert (Kenneth), Vicki Edwards (Deland) and Stacy Edwards (Judge Jimmie M. Edwards); sons John Wesley Taylor III (Rhonda) and Derek Dunlap; sister LaVern Thornton; brother Walter Taylor (Debra); sisters-in-law Jacqueline Butler and Dorothy Taylor; nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Thur.,Sept. 30, Antioch Baptist Church, 2401 Annie Malone Dr., St. Louis, MO 63113. Funeral is 10 a.m. Fri., Oct. 1 at Antioch Baptist. Burial follows at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
