Memorial service

Please join us as we celebrate and honor the memory of Dcn Ralph Taylor. The funeral will be held at Saint Philip's at 1:00pm on Saturday, October 15, followed by a reception in the Murphey Gallery. All are welcome.

For those unable to attend the service in person, the following live-stream link is offered: https://vimeo.com/756000344

+

Ralph died peacefully at home as was his wish on June 28, 2022. He was comfortable and happy that he saw his children before he died.

Ralph was born in Niagara Falls, NY on February 14, 1945. His parents were Ralph Douglas Taylor, and Ruth Cheever Taylor. He was raised in northwestern Indiana and southwestern Michigan, and began working before the age of 12 delivering newspapers, working on local farms, and at a hardware store. He was the oldest of seven children born to Ruth. His siblings are Richard, Rita and Robert Taylor, Randy, Russell, and Rhonda Hulett.

Ralph joined the Army at age 17. He was stationed in Alaska, New Jersey, and at the top of a cold mountain in South Korea. He was transferred to Ft Huachuca in 1965, and honorably discharged in 1967. He was playing soccer at Ft Huachuca in January wearing a t-shirt and shorts and decided Arizona was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. He was finally warm and dry, and not shoveling snow. 

Ralph spent his professional life in law enforcement. He was with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department from 1969 to 1978. He joined South Tucson Police Department for one year and was later hired by the Tucson Police Department (TPD) in 1980. He spent the next 27 years working for TPD, and retired as a Homicide Detective.

Ralph was the loving father of Michael, Heather (Hofschulte), Jacob, Steven, David, and Douglas.  He was grandfather to Steven’s children, Brittany, and Lucas.  

Ralph was a faithful member of St Philip’ Church. It was here that he met Sally Stevens whom he married in 2005. He became Stepdad to Will (Liz Meredith), Ellen (Zuki Ndulo) and David (Erin Virostek), and Granddad to Jack Ndulo.  

Ralph was ordained a Deacon in 2008 and served the church and the community through Pima County’s Victim Witness Program and TIHAN until he retired from being an active Deacon in 2017. Ralph realized how blessed by God he was every day and hopes that all who knew him share that realization.