FRED TAYLOR IS DEAD AT AGE 69

LONGTIME TELEGRAPHER FOR RAILROAD DIES AT VETERANS HOSPITAL

(veteran)

Fred Taylor of Blair, who prior to his retirement served a third of a century as a railroad telegrapher in Blair and almost 40 years as a railroad employee, died Monday afternoon.

Mr. Taylor, 69, virtually a lifetime resident of Blair, died at Veterans Hospital in Omaha where he had been a patient over two years.

The body was returned to Blair, where services were held at 3:30 p.m. yesterday at the Bendorf Funeral Home. The Rev. R. E. Ditlevsen of First Baptist Church officiated. Interment was in Blair Cemetery.

These VFW members served as pallbearers: Curtis Rathmann, Jack McNichols, Tim Engelke, Glenn Nicholson, William Hunt and Art Stimpson, with Floyd Wilbur as honorary pallbearer. Lynn Bachman sounded taps. The casket flag was presented to Mrs. Merle Stewart.

Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. A. J. (Jud) Taylor, he was born here Oct. 2, 1883, and attended the local schools. In 1901 he enlisted in the Navy and served until 1905. In 1906 he began work for the Chicago & North Western Railroad Co. at Hastings, and a year later was transferred to Blair, where he continued to serve - - with the exception of five months at the yard offices in Norfolk - - until he retired Mar. 1, 1945. At the time of his retirement, Mr. Taylor recalled that his had been an “upside-down” life, since he served all but five of his years on night duty.

Surviving Mr. Taylor are four brothers, Byron and Carleton Taylor, both of California; Ed Taylor of Denver; and J. C. O’Brien of Reinbeck, Ia.; and by three sisters, Mrs. Merle Stewart of Blair; Mrs. B. S. Fletcher and Mrs. Given Smith, both of California.