For Tom Taylor, the evidence of a life well lived was in abundance last week. Neighbors and friends gathered to celebrate Taylor's 95th birthday, honoring his community service and commemorating decades of commitment to Alexandria.
Taylor has 10 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. The photos of his family members are displayed in his living room on East Custis Avenue.
"Tom has been such a wonderful citizen of Alexandria," said Vice Mayor Del Pepper. "He's such a great person. Everybody loves Tom."
TOM TAYLOR WAS BORN on Sept. 7, 1910 in Beaufort, N.C., a small town near the Outer Banks. William Howard Taft was president and gas cost nine cents a gallon.
"We would sit on the front porch and look out over the Atlantic Ocean," Taylor remembered of his childhood days in North Carolina. His father was a fisherman, a job that had an influence on the son.
"I used to catch crabs and sell them for 10 cents a dozen," Taylor said. "That was my ticket to the movies, which also cost 10 cents."
When he turned 18, Taylor left Beaufort and moved to New York City to work in a pharmacy. He loved working in the drug store, and spent his professional career working in various pharmacies. But the move to one of the world's biggest cities was a culture shock.
"I looked up at those buildings and wondered where the people lived," Taylor said, recalling New York City in 1928. "I didn't see any houses with yards in them."
In 1932, he married his first wife. Then, in 1941, the drug store he was working for transferred him to Norfolk.
"It was a promotion to full-time management," he said.
In 1948, he was transferred again, this time to Washington, D.C. He started working for a pharmacy on the corner of 18th Street and G Street, just a few blocks from the White House. One of his most exciting days in that store was when would-be assassins tried to shoot President Harry Truman. They missed the president, but bullets struck his drug store window as a window trimmer was installing a display.
With his first marriage slowly dissolving, Taylor was transferred to Alexandria in 1950. He worked at the pharmacy on the corner of King Street and Washington Street.
"Alexandria was a small Southern town back then," he recalled. "I knew all the people who would come into the drug store."
This was a time when drug stores had soda fountains, which were popular places for people to socialize. One woman who visited the fountain at Washington and King frequently got Taylor's attention. They struck up a friendship and soon started courting. Eventually, in 1957, they got married. The newlyweds lived in a house in the 2400 block of King Street.
TAYLOR RETIRED from the pharmacy business in 1972. He sold his house on King Street and moved back to North Carolina. But he and his wife missed Alexandria so much that they moved back, buying a house on East Custis Avenue in Del Ray.
That's when Taylor became a city activist, advocating for seniors. He became president of Chapter 818 of the American Association of Retired Persons and an active member of the city's Retired Senior Volunteer Program. He was also president of the Council of Alexandria Senior Citizen Organizations and secretary of Del Ray Senior Citizens. An old issue of the Alexandria Packet illustrates Taylor's influence in the community.
"Realtors and apartment owners are driving poor and deprived seniors and the poor out of the city with excessive rentals," Taylor is quoted in a Dec. 29, 1986 story. "It is difficult to find a suitable apartment in a suitable area without paying $600 a month."
In the early 1980s, Mayor Charles Beatley introduced him to Del Pepper, who was then planning to run for City Council. Beatley suggested that Taylor work as Pepper's treasurer.
"I was Del's treasurer for many years, until my great-grandson was murdered," he said.
In 2000, while Taylor was at home on East Custis Drive, his grandson was murdered while playing in his front yard. Tragedy struck again last year when Taylor's wife died. But he remains upbeat, celebrating his 95th birthday with about 50 friends and family members in Del Ray.
"The party was marvelous," Pepper said. "It was a wonderful way to celebrate this very special event."