TAYLOR, RICHARD S. (21 Sept. 1934-29 May 1993) union leader and community activist, was born in Maybeury, West Virginia, the son of Ralph and Ruby Taylor. He attended Elkhorn High School and served in the U. S. army before moving to Cleveland in the 1950s. Employed by WHITE MOTOR CORPORATION, Taylor worked there until it closed in 1982, becoming a supervisor and also was elected to the Executive Board of UAW Local 32 at the 79th St. plant. As a union leader, Taylor was vocal in his opposition to the last minute changes in White's pension fund rules in 1982, which postponed workers' eligibility for the retirement benefits they had earned for as much as 20 years. In the 1980s he worked for Nationwise Auto Parts and later in the Division of Clerks at Cleveland Municipal Court. Taylor also was a neighborhood activist serving as a spokesman for Citizens Opposing Prison Site (COPS) which helped persuade the state to drop its plan to build a prison at the former Fisher Body plant on Coit Rd.
Taylor married Margie Collins in the 1950s, and they had three childrne, Kenneth, Marilyn, and Aleta. A resident of Cleveland, he died at MERIDIA HURON hospital and was buried at Highland Park Cemetery.