Albert Donald Taylor

Albert Donald Taylor, Born May 8, 1938 - Died March 16, 2025

Albert Donald Taylor died March 16, 2025, at Rocky Mountain Assisted Living in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. He was 86.

Born on May 8, 1938 in Denver, Colorado to Harold and Catherine Taylor, joining brother Harold Jr. The family moved around the west, living for a time in Utah before settling permanently in south Denver.

He graduated from Denver's South High School in 1956, enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. After completing boot camp, he completed his service in the reserves, working at Gates Rubber for a time and later at Public Service Company of Colorado.

Public Service is the place where he met the love of his life, Bonne McNeive. Raised a Protestant Christian, he converted to her Catholic faith and the two were married in September 1960 at Denver's St. John the Evangelist.

After living a few years in a rented house on Monroe Street in Denver, they purchased a home in the new Denver suburb of Northglenn. The larger home was just in time, as they were soon joined by their son, Scott Matthew Taylor.

Al's military reserve service finished, he completed classes at Arapahoe Community College and Denver's Metropolitan State University while continuing to work at Public Service Company and working a part-time job at the Sears and Roebuck in the new Northglenn Mall.

While the retail job was lucrative and he was offered advancement opportunities there, he decided to put his eggs in his Public Service Company basket, working for the Denver-based power utility company until about 1997 — first as a meter reader and then in the company's customer service department, eventually working as power theft investigator.

Meanwhile, the family moved to a new home in Arvada's Lake Arbor subdivision.

Growing up, his family and friends referred to him as Don, his middle name. It was during his time at Public Service Company he decided to begin going by his first name, Al. Many of his family members and old friends from high school earlier days continued call him Don Taylor, while his newer friends and co-workers knew him as Al.

Although his religion and his relationship with God was always important, he found a new expression for his faith and an open and warm pool of close friends in Arvada's Spirit of Christ Catholic Community.

He served many roles in the church, first as an usher and later as a Eucharistic minister and prayer group leader and devoted years to several bible study groups and the church's Marked Men for Christ. He was among the volunteers who helped put down sod in the church's lawn, was tasked with providing the recorded sound effects for the church youth group's Easter Passion play and years later served as President of the church's Young at Heart group.

His early retirement from Public Service Company didn't mean he was done working. He soon took a job with Broomfield's Hunter Douglas and later worked in customer service at Kinko's at 94th and Sheridan.

His workload was lighter, however, and Al and Bonne took advantage, taking cruises to Alaska and Hawaii and visiting family around the country.

Although an avid hunter from early on, his later recreation efforts were devoted to other outdoor hobbies — including fly fishing, four-wheeling, hiking, running and cycling.

He is preceded in death by his parents Harold and Catherine, brothers Kenneth Duane and Harold Jr., nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins and other family in Denver and in Sterling and Brush, Colorado.

He is survived by his son Scott and his wife Hadley (Brewer) of Thornton, his grandson Matthew Stephenson Moore Taylor of Denver, his nieces Bonnie Bills of Rushville, Indiana, Cathy Eden of Somerset, Kentucky and Mary Smart of McKee, Kentucky and numerous grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

The funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 7, 2025 at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community, 7400 W. 80th Ave. in Arvada.

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations in Albert Donald's name to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (macular.org), Living with Glaucoma (https://livingwithglaucoma.com) and the Hadley Vision Loss Help (www.hadleyhelps.org).