TAYLOR, (HOWARD) LESTER (18 Aug. 1884-11 Apr. 1950) was a well-known physician of Cleveland who devoted a great deal of his time to health education. He was also a founder of the CLEVELAND HEALTH EDUCATION MUSEUM.
Taylor was born in Verona, NY, and was the son of William Cullen and Irene (Mather) Taylor. He attended school in Ilion, NY, received a A.B. from Oberlin College in 1906, and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1910. He came to Cleveland that year and interned at Lakeside Hospital for three years.
He served in WORLD WAR I in Langeres, France, eventually becoming a major in the army medical corps. He returned to Cleveland and set up his practice, specializing in internal medicine. He was appointed to St. Luke's Hospital in 1929, beginning a long partnership with that institution.
He conceived the idea of the Cleveland Health Education Museum and took a leading role its establishment. The museum was incorporated in 1936 and opened in 1940, and Taylor served as its president until his death. He also became director of medicine at St. Luke's Hospital in 1945. Taylor additionally served on the editorial staff of the Cleveland Medical Journal in 1916.
Taylor married Marion Kuykendall on 6 July, 1917 in Washington, DC, and they were divorced in 1933. On 2 Feb. 1934 in Erie, PA he married Hilda Leisy Warner, a divorcee, the daughter of brewer Otto Leisy. Taylor died in Pinehurst, NC, while on vacation, and was buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY. He was survived by his wife.