Ronald (Ron) D. Taylor

Born in Keyser, West Virginia, Ronald (Ron) Taylor, grew up and received his education in Maryland.  From a young age, music played an important part in Ron’s life.  As teenagers, he and his identical twin brother, Roland, played trumpet in the all-volunteer Washington Redskins Marching Band.  Founded in 1937, this is the oldest marching band in the National Football League.  

Shortly after completing high school, Ron served for two years in the United States Army in Europe.  Upon his discharge, he began a 32-year career in the appraisal business for the state of Maryland.  During the last 11 of those years, Ron specialized in handling appeals and court cases of appraisals for residential properties, work that he enjoyed very much.

In 1961, Ron married Mae (nee Cash; deceased January 2018), the same year that he committed his life to serving God; today, he credits many of his life’s satisfactions to that decision.  As an adult he continued to pursue his interest in music, singing instead of playing his trumpet.  For six years, Ron held the baritone position in a quartet out of Riverdale Baptist Church in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, called “The Kingsmen of Riverdale.” In other church-related activities he served on a committee charged with organizing Youth of Christ programs in Maryland, specifically in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Fast-forwarding to more recent years, Ron, with a team of others, and under the auspices of the Southern Cross Project, distributed Bibles in Thailand in 2011 and in Taiwan in 2012 and 2014.

Ron retired from his work for the state of Maryland in 1988, and he and Mazie (his wife’s nickname) moved to Lynchburg, a place they had visited and liked very much, especially for the friendliness of everyone they met.  They settled in Forest and became active members of Forest Baptist Church.  For 14 years Ron and Mazie sang in the Live Christmas Tree performances at Thomas Road Baptist Church.  Ron also joined Senior Saints, a Thomas Road activity that meets weekly. For 25 years, he and other singers in the group regularly offered choral programs throughout central Virginia. 

If you haven’t already met Ron, be on the lookout for him and introduce yourself.  A possible conversation starter can be to ask him to identify the sport he pursued and won the 1962 Tournament of Champions.  You might be surprised that the sport holds championship tournments.