A coach in basketball, and life

In the gymnasium where Bill Taylor coached so many successful Southwestern Community College basketball teams, a crowd estimated at more than 1,300 gathered to celebrate his life Tuesday.

The service was coordinated by Pearson Family Funeral Services and Southwestern, his employer for 28 years. Several memories were shared of the Diagonal native who rose the administrative ranks at SWCC after beginning as a business/office administration instructor in 1991. Taylor was either assistant or head basketball coach from August 1991 through July 2002.

His final position at the college was vice president of instruction. He had also served as Small Business Development Center director and director of student services.

More than 20 former players and SWCC coaching colleagues were seated together as honorary pall bearers.

Speakers during the service touched on the many ways Taylor impacted lives through the years of his service at SWCC, along with his passion for basketball — which started in Diagonal as a player for legendary coach Dennis Tassell — and his devotion to his family that included wife Joni and children Colby and Jenna.

The Rev. Gwen Trullinger of United Church of Diagonal recalled Taylor as a youngster.

“He was committed early on to doing good work,” Trullinger said, adding that Taylor’s strength during his three-week battle with Stage IV pancreatic cancer was indicative of his day-to-day life trying to improve the life of others.

"Bill was willing to take the time to stop and visit, and he was willing to listen to your story," Trullinger said. "It was not about him, it was about other people. What a wonderful example for each of us. That we might emulate him, not only for the courage that it took the past few weeks, but the courage that he lived his entire life with."

Taylor was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Oct. 18 and the severity of the disease increased rapidly before he entered MercyOne Comfort Care last week and died on Nov. 7.

Effective motivator

Dr. Matt Thompson, former Southwestern director of student services — succeeding Taylor when Taylor became vice president of instruction in 2008 — is now vice president of academic affairs and institutional effectiveness at Indian Hills Community College. He told the audience his life was changed when an upbeat Taylor encouraged him to apply for the SWCC position when he was finishing graduate work at Iowa State University.

Thompson pointed to Taylor’s former players when describing how Taylor encouraged him to join the SWCC team. Dr. Chris Duree, former Creston High School and SWCC administrator, was teaching a class Thompson was taking at Iowa State and alerted him to the Southwestern opening for dean of students.

“As these guys can tell you, Bill was a great motivator and he motivated me that day in our phone call,” Thompson said. “Bill talked extensively about the great staff, faculty and administration at Southwestern and spoke so much about the SWCC family. I think you can see that alive and well today.”

Taylor’s genuine interest in the personal lives of colleagues and students was a consistent theme during Tuesday’s service. Taylor was planning to connect Thompson’s wife with local nursing opportunities with administrators at Greater Regional Medical Center, Thompson recalled, if he got the job. That kind of personal interest continued even when Thompson moved away to Ottumwa.

“On the phone or when I would see him at statewide meetings, Bill’s first question was never about work,” Thompson said. “It was always about my family. Bill cared for others and it was genuine. After he got the diagnosis, he told me he was going to fight it so he could watch my kids play sports.”

Nephew’s memories

For many years, Creston native (Mike and Jean Ann’s son) Blair Taylor served as a self-described “water boy” for “Uncle Bill’s” Southwestern basketball teams. He told the crowd Tuesday that he got to see all sides of his uncle, both during games and behind the scenes in the halftime lockerrooms and on bus trips to away games. His admiration for his uncle and values learned through those observations grew over the years.

“Bill was never one to hold his emotions back on the court,” he said, recalling the “dress shoe stomp” heard throughout the gym if an official’s call or player’s mental mistake frustrated him. “But even more powerful was the opportunity to see Bill impact these young men more than just on the court. He knew that relationships mattered, and he was darn good at developing and sustaining them.”

Blair Taylor is now a public school principal in Sioux City. He said he enjoyed reading the many social media posts in recent days, including one by Emily Stults, a classmate of Jenna’s, about Bill making everyone on their youth travel basketball team feel as important as anyone else on the team, regardless of athletic ability.

Another post by SWCC athletic trainer Megan Birchard noted Taylor’s selfless personality demonstrated recently in helping a student in the parking lot whose car had run out of gas, right after he was dealt the news of his grave cancer diagnosis.

A powerful post, Blair Taylor said, was by former SWCC basketball player TJ Tassell, whose father Dennis was Taylor’s coach in Diagonal. Those bonds came in handy when TJ was dealt an emotional blow in his family while a student-athlete at SWCC. Tassell played on Taylor’s Spartan team that placed seventh in the 1999 national tournament.

“I will never forget the day that coach Taylor delivered the news of my dad’s passing, personally to me in my college apartment,” Tassell posted. “He then drove me to my sister’s so I could be with family, and he brought the whole team to the funeral. Coach Taylor will forever have a place in my heart.”

Fortunate timing

Longtime SWCC coaching and staff colleague Bill Krejci said before the service that the college was fortunate that Taylor had joined the faculty just as he was turning the reins of the basketball program over to young coach Steve Forbes, now head coach at East Tennessee State University. Forbes needed an assistant, and Taylor was the perfect fit.

Taylor had a bachelor’s degree from Northwest Missouri State University and had been a manager of Sherwin-Williams paint stores before getting his master’s degree at the University of Missouri, where he took a basketball theory class from then men’s basketball coach Norm Stewart.

“Bill was teaching in our office occupations department and he had a great basketball background,” Krejci said. “One thing about Bill was, when he did his job as a coach or administrator, he was very meticulous and detail-oriented. He didn’t do anything halfway, it was by the book and he followed the rules.”

Forbes, who attended Tuesday’s service, said he was struck by Taylor’s work ethic.

"The guy was teaching a full load, and I mean a full load of 18 or 19 hours," Forbes said, "in addition to going to our practices and games, and out recruiting on nights we weren't playing. It was incredible."

When Taylor was promoted to director of the Small Business Development Center, he switched roles with assistant coach Mike Morley, who became the head coach in the 2002-03 season. It was also the time in his life when he and Joni began following the activities of their young children.

Lifelong coach

However, Taylor never really stopped coaching. Jesse Cox, former SWCC player and assistant coach for Taylor, is now girls basketball coach in Lenox and said Taylor helped him even after his October doctor visit, as he awaited MRI test results.

“I had a gym of 13 Lenox girls in grades 7-12 for a shooting clinic on October 13 and Bill was still fired up and coaching like he always did,” Cox said. “He’d blow his whistle and make everyone stop if they weren’t doing it like he showed them.”

Dr. Barb Crittenden, Southwestern president who hired Taylor when she held Taylor’s last position of vice president of instruction, said there are many layers to Taylor’s loss at the college and the community. She said Taylor was highly respected for his work over 28 years for his dedication, integrity and leadership.

“The outpouring of support and concern for Bill and his family is evidence of the immense impact he had on each and every person he knew,” Crittenden said. “His legacy will live on in all of those who had the privilege of having him as a teacher, coach, mentor, colleague family member and friend.”