Murphy Roland Taylor

Murphy Roland Taylor passed away at age 90 due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. Born to Roland and Myrtle Barner Taylor in Grapevine, Arkansas, he was the 7th of 10 children, all of whom preceded him in death. Murphy finished school with a high school diploma in 10 and a half years and enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1945. He was stationed in Korea in between WWII and Vietnam and served a year and half before being discharged in July of 1947. In 1947 he married his high school sweetheart, Betty Nell Cearley and went to work for Southwestern Bell in unlocated construction. From there he became a station installer in Pine Bluff and then to chief Switchman in Blytheville, Ark. He moved to Fayetteville as Chief Switchman in 1967 and was later to promoted to Wire Chief over Northwest Arkansas. He was later promoted to Network Manager of the West side of Arkansas. Having missed only one day of work in 42 years, he retired in 1988. Fishing and watching sports were some of Murphy's favorite pastimes, but his greatest passions were beekeeping and gardening. In his garden is where he spent most of his time, tending to a bounty of fruits and vegetables for his friends, family and neighbors to enjoy. Murphy is preceded in death by his eldest son, Glen Murphy Taylor. He is survived by his wife, Betty and two sons, Mark Roland Taylor and his rock Melinda McIlroy of Fayetteville and Rick Sam Taylor and his wife, Kimberly John Taylor of Conway, Ark.; three granddaughters, Shannon Bode and her husband William, Nicole Taylor of Fayetteville and Abby Oakley and her husband Justin of Maumelle, Ark.; four grandsons, Ryan Taylor and his wife Ashley of Little Rock, Brett Taylor and his wife Amanda of Conway, Ark., Zachary Taylor of Tucson, Ariz. and Gavin Taylor of Conway, Ark.; four great-grandchildren, Wyatt Samuel and Ella Jane Taylor, Jaxon Taylor and Norah Joan Oakley. Visitation is from 4-6 p.m. on Friday, October 19 at Nelson Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville. A graveside service will be held at Grapevine Cemetery at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 20. Memorials may be made to the Willard Walker Hospice Home at https://www.wregional.com/hospice/willard-walker-hospice-home.aspx, the Alzheimer's Association at https://www.alz.org, or Grapevine Cemetery. To sign the online guestbook please visit www.nelsonberna.com.