An Extraordinary Life: Plainfield man ‘really had a deep love and affection for his hometown’

Smiley.

That was the nickname a staff member at the former Stefanich’s Restaurant in Joliet gave to Jerry Taylor of Plainfield.

“Every time we’d go in there she’d say, ‘Hey, Smiley, how are you doing?’” Roy Taylor of Oswego, Jerry’s son, said. “And that would make him smile, the rare occasion he would smile, because someone had nicknamed him Smiley.”

Jerry was born, raised and lived in Plainfield until 2002 when he moved to Sheridan, his way of returning to the small town living he relished. He loved and related to Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way,” Linda Taylor of Plainfield, Jerry’s daughter, said.

“He’d sit on the back, drink a beer and listen to his ‘50s music,” Linda said. “He’d sit there enjoying the beauty that was around him and the peace and quiet. I think that’s what he missed the most when Plainfield became so big … he really had a deep love and affection for his hometown.”

Jerry graduated from Plainfield High School in 1956 and served in the Marines from 1957 to 1962. He ran Taylor’s Mobil Service in Plainfield until 1976 and then owned Taylor’s Auto Supply until 1996.

He served as assistant fire chief at the Plainfield Township Fire Department in the late 1970s. He was on the village board for one term in the early 1970s. He belonged to Plainfield Masonic Lodge, and, more recently, the Sheridan American Legion.

And he drove a school bus for Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 from the early 1960s until 1991, Roy said

“He worked six days a week, almost 12 hours a day,” Roy said. “He taught me a strong work ethic. He was very honest; he was honest to a fault.”

Roy recalled the time he tossed a penny by a tree when he was walking with his father. Jerry chastised him for it.

“He said, ‘That might be a penny, but we don’t throw money away,’” Roy said. “I learned that from him.”

But Jerry also liked to have fun with his friends and liked hanging out at Uptown Tap in Plainfield, Roy said, and in later years, The Norway Store in Norway, Illinois, and Chet’s Fox River Tavern in Wedron, Jerry’s obituary said.

Nevertheless, “stoic” is a good way to describe Jerry, Roy said

“He did not show a lot of emotions,” Roy said. “But he had a heart of gold … he was always concerned about the well-being of his kids and his grandkids, and they meant the world to him. And he was that kind of father — even when he was failing, he was very interested in our well-being and still trying to parent at the very end.”

Plainfield roots

Jerry’s father LeRoy Taylor (deceased), a World War I veteran, was the first chief for the Plainfield Township Fire Department, Roy said. LeRoy also ran a heating and cooling business. Roy is named for Jerry’s father. So Roy, in turn, named his son Jerry after Jerry. Jerry’s mother Helen ran a newsstand in Plainfield from 1929 to 1995, Roy said.

“She had paperboys delivering The Herald-News all over town,” Roy said.

By age 10 or 12, Jerry could ride the bus to downtown Joliet with a friend, watch a movie, check out the department stores, and then take the bus home.

“If he wanted to go swimming, he’d just walk out to Route 126 and jump into one of those gravel pit lakes,” Roy said.

Jerry’s grandmother lived with the family when Jerry was in high school. During those years, Jerry would drive around rural areas and look for old “junky” cars that people were selling for $50 to $100, Roy said in an email.

“He would buy them, bring them home and fix them up a little then sell them for a little profit,” Roy said in the email. “Sometimes his Grandmother would ask to come along on these drives, so it was always a cute picture in my mind of our teenage Dad going on these drives with his elderly Grandmother, and she helped him pick out which cars to buy and ‘flip.’”

Jerry loved animals, especially dogs, and his family always had a dog. Linda said. A favorite photo from Jerry’s trip to Mexico shows him sitting on a bench feeding “four or five” stray dogs, she said.

“Here he was on vacation,” Linda said, “and he was worried about these little guys.”

The people who saw the “grumpy Jerry Taylor” often didn’t see Jerry’s generosity, like the dozen or so times Jerry treated a local busboy with physical and intellectual difficulties to a Bears game – Jerry was a season ticket holder – or the lifelong friendships he made. In fact, Jerry regularly took Roy to Bears games, starting when Roy was 8 years old, Roy said.

Mostly, Jerry taught Roy how to live ethically through his examples.

A living example of generosity

Roy recalled an instance when he was a teen. He and his friends were driving down Route 59 when cash started blowing off the motorcycle in front of them. They stopped the car, collected the cash and brought it to the police station in case the man returned for it.

To this day, Roy credits Jerry for making the right choice.

“I learned it from him,” Roy said.

Linda said one of Jerry’s lifelong friends was a man from Michigan who was selling fireworks out of his trunk. The man stopped at Jerry’s gas station and they just connected, she said. The friendship lasted until the man died about five years ago, she said.

In fact, Linda said, their family home was between both sets of grandparents and that Jerry lived next door to his mother his entire life. Jerry’s father died suddenly when he was 18 (“He had a great respect for his father,” Linda said) and he shouldered the responsibility of caring for his mother Helen (deceased) and his disabled brother Rich (deceased) she said.

“When my mom got sick, he did his best to take care of her,” Linda said. “If you were a friend of Jerry’s you could count on him for just about anything. When he owned the auto parts store, he extended credit; sometimes he got burned. He took us on trips as kids … outside he was a gruff guy, but inside he had a heart of gold.”

Roy said Jerry expressed dismay at the less than positive changes in the world toward the end of Jerry’s life. Roy said Jerry said, “It used to be that people took care of each other, watched out for each other. Now they’re only interested in shooting each other.”

Linda said Jerry and Ann loved to travel out West with friends, often visiting places associated with John Wayne, whom Jerry admired. Jerry didn’t like flying, but he did enjoy train travel. Ironically, he and Ann were high school sweethearts; Ann became a stewardess for United Airlines when the ybroke up, Linda said.

Ann and Jerry married when she returned, and he refused to date again after her death in 2014, Linda said.

“He said, ‘Nope, Ann was the only woman I ever loved,’” Linda said.

Linda said Jerry wasn’t one to give hugs or say “I love you” when she was a child. But she treasures one of the last greeting cards she received from him: “Thanks for all your help. Love, Dad.”

Jerry was 83 when he died Jan. 28.

• To feature someone in “An Extraordinary Life,” contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.