A Graveside Service for Roland will be held at Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 2:00 PM.
Please bring a chair and an umbrella.
Our dear dad was born on the family farm west of Melfort to Gordon and Edith (Paul) Taylor. He was the second of seven children.
Dad had a wide range of interests and knew how to enjoy life. He also had many life dreams. As a young boy during World War II dad’s interest in airplanes emerged when he heard them overhead. A few decades later he fulfilled two of his dreams when he acquired his private pilot’s license and a sparkling Cessna 172. He loved to take friends and family on fun flights.
Dad worked hard and knew how to get things done. He was proud of his many contributions to the infrastructure development of Saskatchewan. Dad worked six years for the Department of Highways in the 1950s and early 60s, constructing many roads throughout the province including Highway 6 south of Melfort and the right of way from Nemeiben Lake to the Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan. He was pleased one day when his boss praised him for how he could finesse heavy equipment in treacherous terrain and told him that he was the first person to cross the Churchill River with a Caterpillar.
In 1969 dad was hired by a local construction contractor as a backhoe operator to install underground telephone cable. The next summer the owner noticed that the CAT operator was careless with equipment whereas dad was careful. Dad was quickly promoted! Good fortune came his way a couple of years later when the owner offered to sell the business to dad. Over the next decade he and his crew worked the rural regions of Saskatchewan, from Carrot River to Climax, Meadow Lake to Marengo.
Dad was an outdoorsman and loved the Canadian wilderness. In 1982 another dream was achieved when he sold his telephone cable business and purchased Mawdsley Lake Fishing Lodge in the far north of Saskatchewan. His great pleasures were the solitude of remote northern lakes and the camaraderie of closest friends. He also treated many friends and family to fishing adventures. Dad’s generosity was always unconditional and rooted in his quiet Christian faith.
Dad married his sweetheart Merla Seale in 1960. They loved and were proud of their family: son Kevin (Katherine) Taylor, daughters Colleen (Todd) Naber and Carolyn (Kelly) Edwards; grandchildren Chloe (Taylor) Cox and Dr. Anais Taylor; Amanda (Darren) Neely, Alana (Bradyn) Wiebe and Ashlyn Naber; Cody (Tamsyn) Edwards, Tristan Edwards, Heidi (Danny) Johnston and Katelyn Edwards; great grandchildren Callum and Adeline Cox; Samuel Neely; Asher and Shiloh Edwards.
They enjoyed 54 years of a happy married life until mom’s passing in 2015. Dad was also predeceased by his parents, his brothers and sisters-in-law Dr. Elmore and Margaret Taylor, Dr. Wesley and Jocelyn Taylor, sisters Joan Taylor and Eileen Taylor; parents-in-law Roland and Olive Seale, brother-in-law Garry Seale and sister-in-law Orma Taylor.
Dad cherished outstanding relationships with his parents and all his siblings including his two surviving sisters Yvonne Rawlings and Grace Campbell. He is also survived by brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Marshall Rawlings, Ken Campbell, Grant & Margaret Seale, Verna Seale and Ross Taylor.
Dad, you are loved and missed by all!
Memorial donations may be made in Roland’s name directly to:
North Central Health Foundation
c/o Melfort Hospital
Box 1480 Melfort, SK S0E 1A0
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Roland William Taylor Friday May 14th 2021..
Death notice for the town of: MELFORT, Province: Saskatchewan