LOUISBURG, NC - Robert Taylor, 84, of Louisburg passed away on May 7, 2021 at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC. He was born in Franklin County, NC to the late Sidney Taylor and Annie Belle Thomas Taylor. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his four brothers, Wilbert, Wilmon, Charlie, and Johnnie.

Robert was a member of St. Matthias Episcopal Church of Louisburg where he served as both junior and senior warden, lay reader, treasurer, and was overseer for other church operations. He would often lead worship and preach when the priest was not available.

Robert was a 1955 graduate of Perry's High School where he graduated salutatorian of his class, a graduate of St. Augustine's University with a BA degree in English and French, and a Master's degree in English and African-American Studies from North Carolina Central University.

Robert Taylor's calling was teaching, and he taught for 47 years. Robert's teaching career began at Mt. Airy, NC at J.J. Jones High School in 1959, then West Charlotte Senior High in Charlotte, NC, Havre de Grace, Maryland, Perry's High School, and finally his beloved Bunn High School where he taught for 32 years. He retired from public school teaching in 1999 and then taught at Louisburg College until 2006 when a brain tumor caused him to lose most of his sight, and he had to retire.

Robert was a trailblazer. He was the first Black teacher at Bunn High School in 1967 and the first Black to integrate Franklin County Schools in 1967 and the only Black to attend the French Institute in St. Anselm's College in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1962. In 1963 he was one of 40 individuals chosen out of 800 from across the United States to study French at the University of Rennes in Ille-et-Vilaine, France. He was the first Black to serve on the Franklin County Board of Health, the Franklin County Library Board, and the Gold Sand Fire Department. He was Franklin County's Teacher of the Year several times, the recipient of the Franklin County's Man of the Year Award, and the Terry Sanford Award, a lifetime member of the NAACP, along with numerous other awards, plaques, and other recognitions.

The following quote was taken from Bunn High School Yearbook in 1980 as the students dedicated the yearbook to Robert: "Because of Mr. Taylor, we know that life is a mixture of good and bad, victory and defeat, give and take. He has taught us to appreciate each other for what we are and to love one another for what we stand for. We know from his example that every person is a human being and should be treated with respect. He has prepared us to give our best and has helped us to understand that whatever the future brings will be the harvest of what we sow now." He would often tell his brother, Johnnie, who was a soldier that: "You fight the enemy on the battlefield, and I fight the enemy (ignorance) in the classroom." One of his favorite quotes was by Malcolm X: "Education is our passport to the future, for the future belongs to those who prepare for it today."

In 1968 Robert married Levonia Richardson, and to this union, three children were born. Robert was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He loved playing music on his Autoharp, writing thousands of letters, and teaching his grandchildren the "thumbs up" sign. His legacy is summed up in how he closed letters to his family: Keep the Faith, Agape, and Love.

Those left to cherish the dear and precious memories of Robert are: his wife, Levonia Richardson Taylor, son, Rev. Robert Jemonde Taylor (Kierson), Kelise Taylor Byrd (Clarence), and Tensie Janine Taylor; five grandchildren, Daven Byrd, Hadar and Hadara Byrd, and Easton Byrd, and Kayleigh Marie Taylor; one sister, Teenie Anderson; one sister-in-law, Tensie Dale; three brothers-in-law, Rev. Thomas Richardson, Curtis Richardson, and Thomas Dale, and a plethora of loved ones, devoted friends, and cherished and beloved students.

Funeral services were held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on May 11, and burial was at the Thomas and Taylor Family Cemetery. NC Episcopal Bishop Samuel Rodman, III officiated, and son, Jemonde, gave the homily. Funeral Services were entrusted to Richardson Funeral Home.

We close with Robert Taylor's request that this poem be quoted at his homegoing:

When all is done and my last word is said
and ye who love me murmur, he is dead
Let no one weep for fear that I should know
and sorrow too that I should sorrow so.

When all is done say not my day is o'er
and that thro' night I seek a dimmer shore
Say rather that my morn has just begun,-
I greet the dawn and not a setting sun
when all is done.

..... Paul Laurence Dunbar

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