John Harvey Taylor, Jr.

John H. Taylor, Jr. of Wilmington passed away peacefully at home on April 4, 2015 surrounded by family, after being diagnosed with cancer several years ago.

John was born in Wilmington, DE in 1943 to John H. Taylor and Bertha Mackinson Taylor.  He grew up in the Highlands neighborhood, attended St. Ann School and graduated from Salesianum School in 1961.  He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from The University of Toronto (St. Michael’s College) in 1965, and a M.A. in Liberal Studies from The University of Delaware in 1995.

He met his wife, Maria Greeney of Leicester, MA, at the University of Toronto. After graduating, John and Maria taught English and History at St. Mary’s Secondary School in Tilbury, England for one year.  They returned to the U.S. to marry in June of 1966 and settled in Wilmington, when John was hired as a reporter by The Wilmington News Journal.  He left the newspaper in 1968 to serve as assistant to the superintendent of the Wilmington Public Schools until 1971, at which time he returned to The News Journal where he remained for 37 years.

John began as an obituary writer and reporter, and later became the News Journal’s Metropolitan Editor, overseeing all newsroom operations for several years.  He then served as Deputy Editor for four years, before becoming the Editorial Page Editor for the next 22 years.  Many recognize him as the author of a weekly column called “Close to Home” which ran for many years until his retirement from the paper in 2005. The next chapter of John’s career brought him to the Delaware Public Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established to conduct research and encourage study and discussions of policies, programs and issues affecting the State of Delaware. This gave him the opportunity to directly shape policy on issues he had previously championed as a journalist.  He served for nine years as Senior Vice President of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Delaware Public Policy Institute.

During his career, John was recognized with several local and national awards for his writing and community service, including the Maryland Delaware Press Association Best Editorial Award (1984, 1989), the Delaware State Education Association Helen Wise Friend of Education Award (1996), the Associated Press Mark Twain Award (1993, 2002, 2003 and 2004), the United Way of Delaware Chairman’s Award (1999), the Common Cause of Delaware Open Government Award (2010), Delaware Futures Haskell-Wyeth Award (2010), and Delaware State Chamber of Commerce Dick DiSabatino Award (2013).  John’s most recent and cherished award was the Order of the First State, the highest honor a Delaware Governor can bestow, which was presented to him at home on March 31, 2015 by Governor Jack Markell.

He was an active and devoted member and leader of the National Conference of Editorial Writers (NCEW).  He served as President of its Board of Directors, Editor of its quarterly journal, The Masthead, and President of the NCEW Foundation Board of Trustees. He cherished the annual conferences and the friends he and Maria met through this organization. 

During his time at The News Journal, John appeared regularly on WHYY TV’s news program, Delaware Tonight/Political Perspectives.  More recently, John interviewed several community and political leaders for the Content Delaware website.  He taught journalism courses at The University of Delaware and Wilmington College and participated in seminars and workshops at NYU and Columbia University. John was a founding member, and former chair, of the Delaware Bar-Bench-Media Conference and a founding member of Vision 2015.

John served on the Board of Directors of several community organizations, including Delaware Community Foundation, Christiana Care Board of Trustees, Nemours Health and Prevention Services Advisory Committee, Stroud Water Research Center, Ministry of Caring, Delaware Alliance for Non Profit Advancement, Serviam Media, Kids Count Delaware and the William P. Frank Scholarship Fund, Inc.

John was an avid reader, cook, music and art lover, traveler, movie buff and theater-goer.  He seized any opportunity to cook.  He would host dinner parties, loved sharing food and drink with friends at their homes, enjoyed his Quill & Grill dinners, and accepted just about every invitation to social gatherings. He enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life – he always listened to their stories and shared them with anyone who would listen.

He expressed his opinion freely and interjected his knowledge in any conversation, but was also a generous, mentor, teacher and guide to colleagues, friends and family.  But most of all, John loved his family.  He travelled all over the country to attend graduations, weddings, school presentations and sports events, but nothing pleased “Pop” more than having all of his kids and grandkids at his dining room table to celebrate just about anything.  

In addition to his parents, John was preceded in death by his brother, Mark Taylor.  He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Maria; his four children, Moira Taylor (Stephen Lippman), Jennifer Taylor Berry (Hal) of Concord, MA, John H. Taylor III (Denise) of Wilmington, DE, and Kathryn Taylor Allen (Michael) of Golden, CO; and his six grandchildren, Alex and Miles Berry, Jack and Lucy Taylor, and Morgan and Parker Allen.

A memorial service celebrating John’s life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday April 19, 2015 at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, 100 N. Dupont Rd., Wilmington, DE 19805.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a memorial contribution to the Taylor Family Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation, PO Box 1636, Wilmington, DE 19809 or to a charitable organization that represents John’s values.

 Service Information