Memories of Jeff from his daughter, Stephanie: 

Even as far back as I can remember, my dad never talked down to me or treated me like a little kid. He was encouraging and wanted me to learn about the world around me, to ask questions and to learn as much as I could. Whenever I learned something new, he would tell me how impressed he was and he always supported me. He loved to make me laugh, especially when I was least expecting it. He was incredibly hard-working and was still holding down two jobs up until about a year ago; he worked for Home Depot and also worked from home for a number of years in sales for multiple companies.

Dad was funny. He was loving and giving. He helped shape my sense of humor by showing me Mel Brooks, the Marx Brothers and Mystery Science Theater. For years, if certain movies like Blazing Saddles or The Shawshank Redemption were on cable, he'd call and tell me so we could watch at the same time. He encouraged and celebrated any and all of creative and artistic endeavors, from singing to music to writing, sometimes even picking me up from high school at 2:00 am at the very end of marching band tournament days. He was there at every graduation and tons of band practices and performances.

He'd read every Ian Fleming novel and made me the James Bond fan I am. He was terrible at drawing, and we always laughed about it. We used to take long drives together just to listen to old radio shows from the 30's and 40's that we collected on tape - War of the Worlds, Suspense and Inner Sanctum Mysteries and he's most of the reason I love Hitchcock and classic films, especially sci-fi and monster movies. He took me to the movies more times than I can begin to count. Even with two bad knees, he took me to Disneyland a ton of times, and we always stayed from the moment the park opened to the moment it closed without a single complaint from him. If there was trivia at any restaurant we ate at, we played it together as a team. He loved sports. Baseball was his favorite and he brought me up with hockey. When I was a kid, we had season tickets to the San Diego Gulls and by one of his connections, he managed to get me a signed hockey stick from the entire team – and it still resides in my living room. I called him, excitedly yelling into the phone, when the Red Sox reversed the curse. He never ever failed to make a William Shatner/Twilight Zone "man on the wing" joke when we flew together. During one visit to our relatives in Massachusetts, he made sure to take me to the Old North Bridge in Concord because preteen, nerdy me desperately wanted to stand where the American Revolution began.

I could keep going forever, in all honestly. I have a million memories and happy moments that I am beyond grateful for. I had the absolute best dad I could have hoped for in this world and the very least I can do is tell anyone who will listen how absolutely wonderful he was. There was never a moment in my life that I doubted how much he loved me or would be there at any time of the day or night if I needed him.

My dad has always been and still is my hero, my inspiration, and the person I remember when I think of what it means to be selfless, caring, and kind. 

These are some of my wonderful memrories of my dad, Jeff Taylor. I welcome you to share your memories or kind words below.