Gary Michael Taylor

Gary Michael Taylor, 68, of Southlake, Texas, passed away on February 3, 2024, as a result of his battle with pancreatic cancer. Gary was surrounded by his family in his home when he drifted off to be with the Lord. He was born to Ronald and Shirley Taylor in Akron, Ohio, on November 24, 1955. Gary attended Voris Elementary School, Roswell Kent Junior High, Garfield High School, and Akron University where he liked to say he majored in Euchre.

Gary's first job aligned well with a lifelong passion of his: cars. At age 16, Gary began parking cars at Hennessey-Bagnoli Funeral Home. He dreamed of one day owning some of the cars that he got to drive as part of his job. Gary and his wife, Kitty, were married on May 26, 1979, at ages 23 and 20, respectively.

Following their marriage, Gary and Kitty moved to Houston, Texas, due to Gary beginning his career with Brink’s. Gary started as a guard, a messenger, and - continuing his love for cars - as a driver of the famous Brink’s armored cars. He quickly moved up to positions in their vault and dispatch departments, and eventually, yet swiftly, moved up to managing positions. In 2007, Gary became the Senior Vice President of International Operations, which led to a 6-year stint of really remarkable worldwide travel experience. Some of his favorite countries to conduct business in were Germany, Morocco, Greece, France, Amsterdam, China, Hungary, Australia, and more. Gary left the company in 2015 after 37 years of service.

Prior to retirement, Gary was the Vice President of Service for Tidel for nearly 7 years. He gleefully retired in 2022 but returned to work for a 90-day period in 2023 on a consulting basis, after the company asked...more than once. Tidel was not ready to be rid of him! Throughout his career, Gary made numerous lifelong friends and was consistently and constantly referred to as a wonderful colleague, boss, mentor, and friend.

Of all of Gary's roles, his favorite roles were that of husband, father, and grandfather - or "Pops." The Taylor family will celebrate 45 years since the marriage of Gary and Kitty in May of this year. Gary was a devoted father. He never missed a sporting event (and there were many), always recording and cheering his children on. In 2018, Gary's lifelong dream of being a grandfather was fulfilled when his first grandchild was born. He was blessed with 3 more grandchildren during his life. He was a perfect role model and the best husband, father, and Pops to his family that he loved so much.

During his retirement, he thoroughly enjoyed travel to Akron, Tampa, Orlando, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, Hot Springs, Napa, Phoenix, and more. Gary also enjoyed playing approximately 4 rounds of golf every week with his golf buddies. Gary looked forward to annual golf trips which seemed to become far more frequent than "annual." When he wasn't golfing, Gary could be found hand washing his coveted and cherished Corvette while playing classic rock, volunteering with Kitty for Meals on Wheels, playing his kids in ping pong, basketball, and cards, or more importantly and more often, playing with his grandchildren in the pool.

Gary is survived by his wife, Kitty Taylor; his 2 sons and their spouses, Zachary and Christine Taylor, Jeffrey and Si Taylor; his 2 daughters and their spouses, Samantha and Trevor Putman, Alexandra and Keltin VonGonten; his 4 grandchildren, Thomas and Henry Putman, Maeve and Josephine Taylor; his father and living mother, Ron and Jan Taylor; his siblings Linda Eitner, Susan Grochowski, Butch Taylor, Kelly Thomas and spouse George, and Billy Snively and spouse Eileen; his Godchildren, Ben Scholles, Sarah Schulze, and Jessica Rivers; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Shirley Taylor; his grandparents Milton and Wilma Taylor, Albert and Velma Sisson; his sister Susie Kay Taylor; and his chosen family, Brad Coles.

In lieu of flowers, donations honoring Gary may be made to:
Tarrant County Meals on Wheels - https://mealsonwheels.org/donate/
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (“PanCAN”) - https://secure.pancan.org/site/Donation2?df_id=6701&mfc_pref=T&6701.donation=form1
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Grapevine - https://sfatx.org/give-online
Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio - https://ccaosa.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/ccaosa/donation.jsp

Visitation will be Thursday, February 8, 6pm-8pm at Lucas Funeral Home 700 W Wall St., Grapevine, Texas. If you can not attend, please join us via live stream at: https://video.ibm.com/channel/tmab4jDHmbG
Funeral Mass will be 11am, Friday, February 9 at St Francis Assisi Catholic Church 861 Wildwood Ln., Grapevine, Texas.
A Celebration of Life luncheon will take place after the funeral mass at 1pm at Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club, 600 Promontory Dr., Keller, Texas