Obituary of Charles Leo Taylor

DYERSVILLE, IOWA Charlie Taylor, 74, of Dyersville, Iowa, died on Saturday, November 16, 2013, at home surrounded by his family. Friends and relatives of Charlie may call from 2 to 8 pm Friday, November 22, 2013, at Kramer Funeral Home in Dyersville where a parish vigil service will be held at 4:00 pm. Friends may continue to call after 11:30 am on Saturday, 11/23, at the funeral home where a Knights of Columbus / Catholic Order of Foresters Rosary will be recited at noon. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 23, 2013. Charlie was born July 30, 1939, in Holy Cross, IA the son of Francis and Dorothy (Rea) Taylor. He graduated from Holy Cross High School in 1958. On August 25, 1965, Charlie was united in marriage to Lois Recker at St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville. Charlie attended Loras College and graduated from Iowa State University 1967, with a degree in Construction Technology. He started his construction career working for Fred Carlson Co., Inc, as a laborer and working his way up to foreman. After graduation from ISU he started working as Assistant County Engineer for Iowa County. From there he went to Cedar County Engineer Office, and then worked for Mulgrew Blacktop in Dubuque. Charlie had always wanted to run his own business so in 1972, he began Taylor Construction, Inc., purchased his first dozer and went to work for Holland Brothers Construction Co. as a subcontractor on Hwy 52 roadway in Millville, IA. His next opportunity was in farm drainage tiling, being known as "Taylor the Tiler". Charlie had aspired to build bridges so in 1979, he built his first bridge in Dyersville, IA. That project started the company's growth to building bridges throughout Iowa. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council 1734, the Catholic Order of Foresters Court 881 and Associated General Contractors of Iowa. Charlie was a loving father and taught his children the value of hard work and honesty. He was proud of his children and the fact that both daughters followed in his footsteps in running the family business. He was a wonderful grandfather and enjoyed activities with his grandchildren; like being in the outdoors, building trails and sharing stories of his youth. He also had a passion for collecting cars along with racing drag trucks, reading and traveling. Left to cherish Charlie's memory are his wife, Lois of Dyersville, 2 daughters: Krista (Ben) Thier and Tina (David) Meyer, both of Dyersville; grandchildren: Brent, Olivia, and Thomas Their, Haley, Victor and Valery Meyer; siblings: Ray (Joan) Taylor of Dubuque, Mary (Wayne) Kahle of Hazel Green, WI, Helen (Scotty) Thomas of San Francisco, CA, Jane (Kenny) Rausch of Knoxville, TN, John (Barb) Taylor of Holy Cross, IA, Bridget (Bob) Kluesner of Little Canada, MN, Pat (Mike) Thies of Peosta, Jim Taylor of Dubuque, & Paul (Sue) Taylor of Zwingle; sisters-in-law: Mary Taylor of Oviedo, FL, Karol Taylor of Holy Cross, Marion (Jim) Krogman of Independence, Alice (Ron) Gudenkauf of New Vienna, Grace (Paul) Rahe of Dyersville and Betty Recker of Manchester; brothers-in-law: Phil (Virginia) Recker and Joe (Sandy) Recker, both of Dyersville; many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, in-laws John and Marcella Recker, brothers Frank and Joe Taylor, sister-in-law Marie Taylor and brothers-in-law Gene Recker and Duane "Red" Even. Memorials can be given to Hospice of Dubuque, St. Francis Xavier Grade School, Beckman High School or Camp Courageous.