Earl Bennett Taylor, Sr.

Earl B. Taylor, Sr., 82, of Peletier, passed away Friday, November 17, 2017 at his niece’s home, after battling an aggressive lung cancer.

His funeral service will be held Monday, November 20, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Cedar Point, officiated by Dr. Steve Wakefield, Reverend J.T. Nichols and Reverend Scott Walker. Interment will follow, with Military Honors and Masonic Rites, at Gethsemane Memorial Park in Newport.

He is survived by his son, Earl, Jr. and wife, Sheila and two grandsons, Kyle and Anderson. Other survivors include his sister, Lib Sawyers and her children, Mary Katherine and Robert.  He was born in Bogue on January 7, 1935 the son of Herman Taylor and Mary Watson.

After graduating from Swansboro High School in 1953 he served four years in the United States Coast Guard attaining the rank of Engineman, 2nd Class. During that time, he married Patricia Ann Arnold formerly of Chocowinity.

They resided in Morehead City and Earl was employed with Dick Parker Ford working his way up to service manager, while Pat worked with Elbert Weeks at Acme Movers and Storage Company. Earl had his experience and several industrial schools that qualified him for his further endeavors and he was coaxed by his former elementary school principle in 1963 to go to Winston-Salem to teach automotive mechanics at the North Carolina Industrial Education Center. He later transferred to Coastal Community College in Jacksonville, NC and taught there until 1968 when he entered into a partnership with his cousin Harold Watson in operating an oyster bar at the Emerald Isle / Highway 24 Ferry Landing Road. When the bridge across Bogue Sound was completed in 1971 they then erected the T&W Oyster Bar and Restaurant on Highway 58 in the Peletier community. He was the owner and principle operator until November 15, 2015. During his restaurant years he was named President of the North Carolina Restaurant Association and was named Restauranteur of the Year the preceding year.

In the mid-1970’s, Earl discovered that Onslow County schools could not allow athletes from Carteret County to attend school there and participate in sports for a period of one year in accordance with North Carolina state law. At this time, there was no high school available to students in western Carteret and they were automatically accepted into the Onslow County school system. Earl was persistent and finally got the law changed. In doing so, he made lifelong friends with those lawmakers and changes were made in state laws in favor of young athletes crossing county lines. Later, he would go on to help form the Century Club and Toast of the Coast, athletic associations for the purpose of supporting and providing equipment for the various teams. One of his favorite accomplishments was getting the football field established with sod, getting it marked and later helping to put in an irrigation system. It was such a great recognition of his work that the field was named the “Earl Taylor Field” in his honor.

Earl really enjoyed chasing jumping mullet in the fall and wrapping his net around a school. He would save and dry the roe, and smoke the mullet. When he went deer hunting you could bet he had a mullet roe in his pockets for his snacks. He also enjoyed fishing for spots. In later years, when he didn’t fish as much, he would buy them and cook them in the restaurant. He had a special presentation, so you could see them swimming on the plate.

Earl lived his Christian principles by loving his neighbors. In the privacy of his home Earl read the Bible through over and over again as shown by notes in his Bible, showing when he began and finished each reading for a total of 22 times.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Ann Arnold and his parents, Herman Taylor and Mary Watson.

We wish to thank Community Home Health and Hospice, Swansboro, NC for their excellent care and for the compassion shown by all the staff to all the family. We appreciated all of you.

Family will receive friends from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, November 19, 2017 at Munden Funeral Home in Morehead City.

Flowers are welcome, or memorials can be sent to the Swansboro Century Club at 161 Queens Creek Rd, Swansboro, NC 28584; Emmanuel Baptist Church at 120 Bell St., Cedar Point, NC 28584; or Hadnot Creek Primitive Baptist Church, in care of Mary Lou Smith, 509 Deer Creek Dr., Cape Carteret, N.C. 28584-9702.

Online condolences may be made at www.mundenfuneralhome.net

Arrangements are by Munden Funeral Home and Crematory, Morehead City, NC.