Tracy Terrell Taylor

TRACY TERRELL TAYLOR WAS BORN ON AUGUST 14, 1973, IN TUTWILER, MISSISSIPPI, TO CL TOWNSEND AND LEONA TAYLOR. EARLY IN HIS LIFE, HE WAS BAPTIZED AT PILGRIM REST MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, UNDER THE STEWARDSHIP OF REV. MAURICE JONES. HIS CHILDHOOD UNFOLDED IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, WHERE HE ATTENDED GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

TRACY'S ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT WAS EVIDENT EARLY ON IN HIS TWENTIES WHEN HE STARTED A HAULING TRUCK SERVICE. HE ALSO DEMONSTRATED HIS KNACK FOR WORKING WITH CARS AND FIXING THINGS. HE CHERISHED THE LOVE FOR CLASSIC CARS, OWNING A FEW, WHICH INCLUDED HIS CADILLACS, AND AS HE CALLED IT, HIS “PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY” CUTLASS. HIS HANDS-ON SKILLS EXTENDED BEYOND VEHICLES AS HE HELPED BUILD AND RENOVATE BUILDINGS AROUND TOWN.

GROWING UP IN THE CAMPAU COMMONS PROJECTS, TRACY WAS AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS "COOL T" AMONG A CLOSE-KNIT GROUP OF FRIENDS WHO BECAME AN EXTENDED FAMILY. THESE RELATIONSHIPS WERE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO HIM, AND HE CHERISHED THE TIME SPENT WITH THEM. TRACY WAS THE YOUNGEST IN HIS FAMILY, AND HIS WARMTH AND CHARISMA MADE HIM BELOVED BY ALL.

HE ALWAYS HAD A SMILE ON HIS FACE WHENEVER YOU SAW HIM, A BEACON OF WARMTH AND JOY IN THE LIVES OF THOSE AROUND HIM. FAMILY WAS AT THE HEART OF TRACY'S LIFE. HE ADORED HIS THREE KIDS, EACH A UNIQUE REFLECTION OF HIS KINDNESS AND STRENGTH. TO HIM, THEY WERE THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS OF HIS LIFE, HIS PRIDE AND JOY. HIS LOVE FOR THEM WAS UNWAVERING, A CONSTANT SOURCE OF COMFORT AND SUPPORT.

HIS HEART EXPANDED WITH EVEN MORE LOVE WHEN HIS GRANDCHILDREN CAME INTO THE PICTURE.AS A GRANDFATHER, OR "PA PA," THE LOVE FOR HIS GRANDCHILDREN WAS UNPARALLELED, BRINGING HIM BOUNDLESS HAPPINESS. HE CHERISHED EVERY MOMENT HE SPENT WITH THEM, FROM THEIR GIGGLES, TO THEIR CURIOUS QUESTIONS. THOUGH HE WOULD JOKINGLY CALL THEM "BAD," IT WAS HIS WAY OF EXPRESSING THE MISCHIEF AND SPIRITED ENERGY THEY BROUGHT INTO HIS HOME.

HIS LEGACY WAS ONE OF LOVE, LAUGHTER, AND AN EVER-PRESENT SMILE—A TESTAMENT TO THE HAPPINESS HE EMBODIED AND SHARED WITH HIS FAMILY.

TRACY'S PASSING WAS PRECEDED BY SEVERAL FAMILY MEMBERS, INCLUDING HIS FATHER, CL TOWNSEND, HIS MOTHER, LEONA TAYLOR, SIBLINGS WILLIE FRANK PATTERSON, JOYCE PLAIR, AND HIS DAUGHTER DAVONTEIONA TAYLOR. OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS WHO LEFT THIS WORLD BEFORE HIM INCLUDE BROTHERS LEROY, JESSE, JOHN T AND CL TOWNSEND JR., AS WELL AS SISTERS CALLIE MAE ALEXANDER, DOROTHY AND RUTH ANN TOWNSEND.

HE IS SURVIVED BY A DEVOTED FAMILY THAT WILL REMEMBER HIM FONDLY. HIS SONS AND THEIR FIANCES ARE DAVONTAY (MONAE DUKE) TAYLOR AND SINCERE "TRESHAUN" (RAVEN PRATT) CARTER. HIS SIBLINGS, SHIRLEY WOODS, MARY, RUBY, JACKIE TAYLOR, PEGGY SPICER SEYMOUR, MICHAEL (TRACY) TAYLOR, AND BRENDA (DANIEL) JEFFERY, ALL OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, HIS BROTHERS CLINTON, RICHARD, TRACY, AND JERRY TOWNSEND CARRY ON HIS MEMORY. TRACY ALSO LEAVES BEHIND A HOST OF NIECES, NEPHEWS, COUSINS, AND FRIENDS WHO WILL CHERISH HIS MEMORY.

THE LIFE OF TRACY TERRELL TAYLOR EXEMPLIFIED THE VALUES OF LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, AND COMMUNITY. HIS LEGACY ENDURES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE HE TOUCHED AND THE CITY HE PLAYED A PART IN SHAPING.