Edward Taylor

Edward Morgan Taylor, 90, died on November 15, 2024, in Benton County. He was born as Edward Burton Morgan at Rapid City South Dakota on December 27. 1933. After his parents separated in 1934, he was adopted by his Aunt Estelle and uncle Edward Taylor, living in Salem, Oregon until moving to Corvallis in 1939. Edward Attended grades one through twelve in the Corvallis School system, became very active in the Boy Scouts of America, and in outdoor living in the adjacent Coast Range and Cascade Mountains. He enrolled as a 1953 freshman at OSC, with many friends from High School and Boy scout days. He climbed many of the snowclad peaks of Oregon, where he developed a strong interest in learning about the geologic development of Cascade volcanoes. In 1956 he worked at Boeing Aircraft Company to earn funds for Additional OSC enrollment. He was then offered a chance to teach the OSC Geology Summer Field Course near Mitchell in Central Oregon. Upon return to Corvallis, he met another OSC student Beverly A Gibbons (the light-of-his- life) and they were married in 1958 at her home in Hood River after they both earned BS degrees from OSU. Their honeymoon was unusual as they paid lengthy visits to Crater Lake, climbing to high points on the rim, completely circumnavigated Mount Jefferson on foot, and investigated geology of John Day River area near Clarno Bridge in Central Oregon. In preparations for their new family, he took a job as an assistant to the Benton County Surveyor. In 1960 their son Eric Richard was born, and Edward completed his master’s degree in Geology of the Clarno Basin. While Grandparents cared for Eric in Hood River, Ed and Bev drove their Model-A to Wyoming climbed several peaks in the Tetons. They then moved to Pullman, Washington and enrolled at WSU to earn a PhD in Geology. While a graduate student, Ed was employed to teach a first semester course of introductory geology and a second semester of graduate-level optical minerology. He was then invited to OSU to teach for a year of several different geology courses. Upon returning to WSU, he studied graduate-level courses in geology, mathematics and chemistry. He then devoted summers to thesis research in the central high Cascades. His PhD was granted in 1967, and he returned to Corvallis as a member of the OSU Geology faculty. Son Craig Matthew was born that summer. Ed’s career at OSU lasted for 32 years during which time he taught many different subjects including mineralogy, crystallography, petrology, volcanology, optical minerology, field geology, and Geology of Oregon. He designed and directed construction of a building containing a kitchen, study hall, and bathrooms for students in the OSU summer Field Geology Program for which he had been an instructor for 39 years at Mitchell in Central Oregon. During this time, he generated interaction with several hundred geology alumni who contributed museum quality mineral specimens from many parts of the world. He became curator of the well-known OSU Mineral and Crystal Collection that was displayed on campus, and he produced a website on the internet for all contributors to examine. In the last decade of his career, he turned his attention from mapping the volcanic rocks that covered many quadrangles of the High Cascades to application of X-Ray Fluorescence techniques for chemical analysis of those rocks, and much-improved understanding of how they were formed. He proposed and substantiated the concept of a Pliocene Cascade Range that produced volcanic rocks spreading broadly eastward over the Deschutes Basin and was then followed by subsidence of a large graben that has been buried by the modern Pleistocene High Cascade Range. He published detailed evidence of where and when these events took place as well as speculations about the responsible plate tectonic processes. He worked with one of his favorite colleagues, Professor Keith Oles, in demonstrating to their students that geologic observations lead to correct interpretations. Those students have established a well-endowed and much appreciated Oles-Taylor scholarship. He maintains close friendships with many former students even as they approach and enter retirement. In his closing years, his favorite memories were of his family and when he with Beverly, Eric and Craig hiked and camped in the woods, traveled to places like Hawaii, New Zealand and many trips to Alaska. In 2021 with the help of his son he connected with a close friend from his childhood, Colombe Leinau, whom he had only seen twice since high school. They spoke every evening at length about their shared childhood experiences in Corvallis. These calls gave him great enjoyment in he last few years. During the last few years of his life, he lived with Craig and his family. Valarie and Leah took wonderful care of him in those last years and helped immensely with his care and wellbeing. A celebration of his 90th birthday was held last February in Seaside OR with his family and nearly 50 former students, friends and colleagues. He spoke frequently in the last year of what a joyous and wonderful experience this was for him. He was preceded in death by his wife Beverly and is survived by both his sons, Eric and Craig, Daughter in law Valarie, two grandkids Leah and Jennifer, and great grandkids Brayden, Lily and Aubrey.

Tributes

Edward Taylor

December 27, 1933 - November 15, 2024