Guy Taylor

Verona - Attorney Guy M. Taylor is at rest after a long illness, and was surrounded in the hour of passing by his family, with anointing and wonderful prayers and chants from Father Christodoulos Margellos. He is survived by his wife Svetlana; sons, Alex and Chris; mother, Dorothy; brothers, Hugh and Dave (Sharon); niece, Antonia; and nephew, Donald; as well as many wonderful cousins. He was preceded in sleep by his father, Dr. Don Taylor; and his father-in-law, Dr. J. with whom he had a strong bond.

Guy was born in the Metairie section of the Big Easy in 1957 to Dr. Don and Dorothy Taylor. The family eventually moved to Madison where he was raised. A West High School alum, he earned his BA in theater arts from Beloit College in 1981. Following graduation Guy worked with the New American Theater in Rockford, IL for a year as actor and technician, followed by a year acting with The Kids Theater Touring Company out of Madison, Wisconsin. A free and joyful spirit, Guy biked his way through the British Isles busking; playing mandolin and singing, and then lived in Oakland, CA for a year bartending at Confucius Chinese Restaurant and living with close friends.

He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin Madison, and in his second year won first place for Outstanding Individual Oral Argument in the Regional Moot Court Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana, where his team also placed first. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1987 and was admitted to the Wisconsin State Bar that same year. Guy spent 35 years defending indigent clients as a staff attorney at the Wisconsin State Public Defender’s Office for Green, Lafayette, and Rock Counties. He put his heart and soul into his work, as he did with everything else he touched.

Guy was a member of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, where he was baptized, and he and Svetlana were married, where he served for many years with his sons, and also as legal counsel. He was a member of the Dodge Bros. Club, having purchased and restored an old family coupe, and toured the U.P. of Michigan in that car. He was a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, the Beloit Rifle Club, the Green County Rifle Club (where he served as corp. counsel for a time), and the Blackhawk Curling Club in Janesville, where he won a team trophy in that sport. An accomplished boat builder, Guy built a Northeaster Dory at the Chesapeake Light Craft workshop in Annapolis, MD.

Guy loved to travel with his family, visiting Asia, Polynesia, Indonesia, Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, South America, and most of the states in the U.S.

His family was his pride and joy. Guy was a hands-on father who participated in Cub Scouts, school activities, and taught the kids marksmanship, hunting, cooking, canoeing, knot tying, puppy training, and what it means to be honorable, and a gentleman. For years he was manager of his sons’ Rush soccer team under Coach Alfred Wendell.

New Orleans left its mark on him and he delighted family and friends with expertly prepared Crawfish Etouffee, corn maque choux, gumbo, and of course hurricanes. Holidays began with Dixieland, homemade beignets, and chicory coffee. Guy loved music and had an encyclopedic knowledge of songs spanning many eras and genres. He regularly serenaded his wife with renditions of Norman Blake’s “Church Street Blues” and the Meters’ “They All Asked for You”. On his trips to Avarua he learned to play the ‘Ukarere like a pro.

Guy was a romantic, designing and building a Balinese pagoda for his wife and planting a night-garden for her. He enjoyed reading P.G. Wodehouse and Longfellow to her by candlelight; using his considerable acting skills to become the various characters he was reading about. He loved sitting by the fire in late summer and early autumn reciting Robert W. Service poems to the boys and encouraging them to make up funny or scary stories.

Guy had a wonderful and quirky sense of humor, a brilliant legal brain, a vocabulary very few could match, and enjoyed his time in court very much.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Kathleen Shannon for guiding us through this horrible illness with patience, compassion and an open mind, Dr. Shachar Peles for making Guy’s life so much easier and more pleasant this last year of his life, Dr. Andy Okas for his thoroughness and kindness, PA Anne Walsh, PA Angie Morgan, the incredible staff of Meriter ER, ICU, and hospital; to Cathy Metzler and Nichole Johnson for going way above and beyond. We wish to thank Kathy Pazak for keeping Guy talking, Sara B. for teaching Guy to swallow again (so he could enjoy a hundred celebrations since autumn 2023!), Pam Mueller for all her kindness and skill, Jerel, Rachel and Mary for making it possible for Guy to live at home and for all their help teaching his family to care for him. We wish to thank Dr. Christopher Lawrence, Dr. Fernando Vega, and Dr. Martina Koller, all of Seattle, who made the difficult and heart-wrenching diagnosis in a kind and considerate way.

Many thanks and so much gratefulness to our friends Rob and Sandi Robertson, Ann Dwyer and Lyle Burmeister, Darlene Gakovich, Dr. Ivan and Miki Knezevic, Stevan and Natalia Zakula, Lenny and Kathie Fafalios, Jim Beer, Loren Hadcock, our dear Karen Kuffer (who never forgot a holiday or birthday all these long years), Dr. Ford and Penny Ballantyne III, Phyllis Reed, Dale Gregory, Greg Dutch, Michael Moore, Don and Sheena Bliss, Lisa Wangsness, Dejan and Molly Nikolic, Zoran and Kendra Karaklajic, Jill Schermerhorn, Kent Lokken, Zo Popovic, Diana McNew, Teri Tobias from SPD for all her help, Sharon Stewart, Maria Molzay and Philoptochos, and always in our hearts and on our minds, Father Joseph and Presvytera Vicki Tzougros. Thank you dear friends for your many kindnesses during these difficult years.

The family wishes to extend very special thanks to brother/uncle/brother-in-law Hugh Taylor for the love and steadfast support he has shown all these years, and to Susan Hutton for her friendship, her many kindnesses, and endless Friday fish fry dinners which Guy and Svetlana enjoyed immensely in her illustrious and joyful company.

A funeral service will be held at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 11 N. Seventh St., Madison, at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, with Father Christodoulos Margellos presiding with luncheon to follow. Burial will be held at Forest Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held at the church from 11:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Wednesday.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Assumption Greek Orthodox Church would be much appreciated by Guy and the family.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson West
Funeral & Cremation Care
7435 University Ave.
(608) 831-6761