Tullahoma resident James L (Jim) Taylor, 82, passed away at his home on Feb. 4.

Jim was born Nov. 3, 1942, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Hugh and Emma Schroth Taylor. Jim graduated from Chattanooga Central HS in 1959 and joined the US Navy at age 16. During his four-year active-duty assignment, he served as an electronics technician on two different warships. In 1964, Jim moved to Tullahoma, where he resumed serving his country as a Naval Reservist. He began working for Sverdrup Corporation as a technician at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex, AEDC, near Tullahoma. Both the Navy and Sverdrup played significant roles in Jim’s life. He credits the Navy for teaching a 16-year-old boy how to be a sailor and teammate and to Sverdrup for training him to be an innovative business leader.

Sverdrup and local AEDC management encouraged Jim to continue his education and pursue his interest in applying computers to automate data collection and process control. Sverdrup supported him in obtaining his college degrees and working with professional technical societies. During his Sverdrup career, he had multiple job assignments with increasing responsibility, enabling him to advance from entry-level instrument technician to vice president and member of the Board of Directors.   Jim received his BS in mathematics from Middle Tennessee State University (1970). Following graduation, he worked as a mathematician for the Navy’s Warfare Analysis in Virginia. Jim received his MS in applied mathematics and engineering from the University of Tennessee Space Institute (1974).  Jim authored several technical books and co-authored a NASA calibration publication. His books on measurement fundamentals were used as the basis for training classes he conducted throughout the aerospace and automotive industries.

More recently, Jim self-published books describing his Navy experience, a technical book on probability, and several fiction books. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 62 years, Yvonne Prater Taylor, and by his parents, Hugh E. and Emma Schroth Taylor, sister, Barbara Gaddis (Elbert), son James (Connie Teal) Taylor, and grandson Jacob Taylor. He is survived by his son David M. (Kristi), grandson Zachary, grandson Dustin (Emily), great-grandson Breccan and Holland, brother, Larry, sister, Diane, and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation for Mr. Taylor will be held on Tuesday Feb. 11, 2025 from noon to 2 p.m. at Kilgore Funeral Home. Funeral services will immediately follow at 2 p.m. in the Kilgore Funeral Home chapel with Alex Hoffner officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens.

Kilgore Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Tullahoma News – Feb. 9, 2025