Leroy Taylor

Leroy Taylor, 73, died unexpectedly by natural causes on Monday, November 18, 2019 at his home in Rockport, Texas.

Leroy was born on November 11, 1946 in Baytown Texas to Lucille and Hoyett Taylor.   He grew up in Highlands, TX and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School.  After spending 2 years in the military, Leroy returned back to the Houston area.  He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Education from the University of Houston in 1973.  He met the Love of his Life, Joanne French in the summer of 1971.  They dated long-distance while she attended LSU, which resulted in many trips to Tiger football games and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.   After graduating they were married on November 23, 1974.

Leroy’s career included being a teacher at St. Thomas High School, Home Builder and Training Director for SpawMaxwell Construction.  During his teaching years, one of his favorite activities was taking High School students on backpacking trips to Guadalupe Mountains and Colorado.  Leroy loved planning events to get friends together.  Due to their bond with Cajun Country, he and Joanne hosted for 31 years an annual spring “Backsliders Crawdad Boil “ at their home.

Leroy was an avid outdoorsman with a passion for fishing and hunting.   He spent the majority of his summers hosting friends and family on fishing trips out of their fishing camp in Port O’Conner, TX, where he was known as “Captain Leroy”.   From 1995 to 2011, he and his many friends created and organized the annual Port O’Conner Invitational Fishing Tournament (POCIFT), which included 2 days of fishing, capped off by the highly entertaining Saturday night “Piscecles” parade.  During the fall and winter months, he enjoyed organizing dove and duck hunting events with his buddies.   Starting in the early 2000’s, Leroy traveled to Guatemala for over 10 years as a volunteer for the “Faith in Practice” medical mission organization.  Leroy also enjoyed travel, cooking and loving their 2 black Labs, Sherman and Blue.

After retirement, Joanne and Leroy designed and built their dream home on Copano Bay in Rockport, and relocated from Houston in 2015.

Leroy is survived by his “Loving Bride”, Joanne; brother Pat Taylor; in-laws: Jimmy & Denis French, Mary Ann & Ernie Horter, and Kelsey & Brian Mothersole.

A “Celebration of Life” will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at Camp Aranzazu in Rockport.  Please refer to the following Web Site for more information and to RSVP:  leroytaylor.com

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Camp Aranzazu, camparanzazu.org or Gulf Coast Chapter of Turning POINT, turningpointnation.org