Michael Evan Taylor

Michael Evan Taylor died October 28, 2007 at his home in Providence, Utah after a long illness. Born 28 August 1939 in Salt Lake City, the son of George Evan Taylor and Lucy Stringham Taylor. Mike was raised in Bountiful, Utah. He is a descendant of Briant Stringham who drove cattle to Elk Horn Ranch near Millville in 1855 and Briant Stringham, Jr., the first physician in Davis County, Utah. He was a member of the first graduating class at Bountiful High School in 1957. He studied geology at Utah State University 1958-1963. In 1963 he moved to Berkeley, California where he met and married Julia Ellen Hassler, a native Californian, in 1964. He completed his doctorate in Paleontology from the University of California in 1971. Mike worked as a research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, first in Washington, D.C. and later in Denver, Colorado. Mike specialized in Cambrian/Ordovician faunas, conducting fieldwork in the Western United States, including Cache Valley and the Bear River Range. He developed a firearms safety training program which has been adopted by several federal agencies. In later years, Mike was a guest of the USSR on a National Academy of Sciences scholarly exchange program between the Soviet Union and the United States. He worked in the Soviet Union, Russia, China, and Kazakhstan at the time of the break up of the Soviet Republics. Mike retired from the Geological Survey in 1995 and relocated to Springer, New Mexico where he applied his love of western history as Director of the Santa Fe Trail Museum located in the 150-year-old Colfax County Court House. He built new exhibits on the history of the southwest U.S. as part of the National Scenic Byway Program. In 2003 the Museum project was completed and Mike and Julia retired to Cache Valley, purchasing a home in Providence. Mike is survived by his wife Julia, and daughter Sarah of Portland, Oregon; a sister, Dorothy DiChellis, of Seattle, Washington, and numerous nieces and nephews. The family wishes to thank their loving neighbors and the staff at Alpine Home Hospice for their tender care, love, and support throughout Mike?s illness. Condolences may be extended to the family online at www.nelsonfuneralhome.com .
The family encourages donations be made in Mike?s name to the Utah State University Alumni Fund, Developmental Office, 1420 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-1420 or the Perpetual Education Fund of the LDS Church.