Jeffery Ray Taylor

Jeffery Ray Taylor, 42, a resident of rural Wheatland, Mo., died Aug. 11, 2011, at the Cox South Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. He was born April 11, 1969, in Fort Scott, Kan., the son of Richard Eugene Taylor Sr. and Lucy Ann Garrison Taylor. Jeff graduated from Fort Scott High School and later served with the United States Marine Corps during Operation Desert Storm. He married Karalee Rice in October of 1991. They later divorced. Jeff did masonry work for both Mid-Continental Restoration and later Brentwood Management. He greatly enjoyed racing outlaw carts and had owned and operated the County Line Speedway at Brighton, Mo.

Survivors include a son, Kelby Taylor, Nixa, Mo.; his mother, Lucy Taylor, Wheatland, Mo.; and two brothers, Rick Taylor, Wheatland, Mo., and Bill Taylor, Dallas, Texas. Also surviving is his paternal grandmother, Geneva Blake, Redfield, Kan. He was preceded in death by his father.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m., Monday, Aug. 15, at the Cheney Witt Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow in the U.S. National Cemetery where military honors will be provided by the Olson Frary Burkhart Post No. 1165, Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Memorials are suggested to the Jeff Taylor Memorial Fund and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Fort Scott, KS 66701.

Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at www.cheneywitt.com.