‘Mr. Tillicum’ leaves lasting legacy in Lakewood community

Tillicum lost a longtime cheerleader with this month’s death of Jim Taylor.

The lifelong resident and third-generation mason not only helped lay the brick-and-mortar foundation of the hardscrabble Lakewood neighborhood; he also helped lay its moral and spiritual foundation.

Taylor was the go-to person in Tillicum who couldn’t say no when others were in need. He also wasn’t afraid to challenge decisions that impacted his community.

“Jim was always our filter. He was always that voice of reason,” said Sue Rothwell, owner of Galloping Gertie’s restaurant.

She and others affectionately refer to him as “Mr. Tillicum.”

Taylor died Sept. 12 after a battle with leukemia. He was 82.

When the city of Lakewood incorporated in 1996, Taylor led an effort to get Tillicum residents on board. While not everyone shared his enthusiasm for cityhood, he helped raise awareness about the vote, according to former Lakewood Councilwoman Andie Gernon.

“Jim was a man that was fully invested and fully engaged to make not only the Tillicum community better, but also the Lakewood community,” Gernon said. “I had admiration for the man.”

Lt. Gen. William Harrison, who was Lakewood’s first mayor and a longtime City Council member, commended Taylor’s dedication to Lakewood’s poorest neighborhood.

“Jim was one of the finest public servants I ever knew, because he did it out of a true love of his fellow man and not for any self interest,” Harrison said in an email.

Taylor’s family settled in Tillicum in 1928. He was born five years later.

He continued his family’s masonry business after serving in the Navy. Much of the brick and masonry work in Tillicum was touched by Taylor’s hands.

His most well-known work is Gertie’s restaurant, a Tillicum landmark. Rothwell, who took over the restaurant after her mother Gertie died, remembers Taylor laying the brick for the building when he was in his mid-20s and she was a child.

Taylor also was a citizen patrolman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. That led to him becoming a sheriff’s deputy, a position he held for six years, his daughter Sharon Taylor said.

He also served as president of the Clover Park School Board in the late 1990s, and a volunteer on Lakewood’s planning advisory board from 2011 to 2014.

Last year the city of Lakewood recognized him as its volunteer of the year.

But Taylor didn’t always see eye-to-eye with city leaders.

In recent years, he helped lead a neighborhood effort to stop the relocation of the Camp Murray gate. He opposed the roundabout that was installed at Portland Avenue where the new gate was built.

He also fought for improvements at Tillicum’s two railroad crossings after it was determined the Point Defiance Bypass project would send high-speed trains through a residential area.

Taylor didn’t always win, but he never quit.

“To not have him at the table anymore is like losing your own father,” Tillicum resident David Anderson said. “He’s not going to be there to consult and there is no one to replace him: His personality, his wherewithal, his rolled-up-sleeves-commitment.”

Anderson and Taylor served together on the Tillicum-Woodbrook Neighborhood Association.

“His counsel was always wise, always strongly opinionated,” Anderson said. “He fought as a leader for the opposition.”

He helped get the Tillicum community center built, and continued to fight for it amid recent financial trouble.

An ice hockey player in high school, Taylor also coached hockey at the Lakewood Ice Arena for many years.

“Tillicum will never be the same without Jim,” Rothwell said. “He was the spokesman. He had the most wisdom, the most connections.”

“Our life is a little emptier without Jim,” said Rod Mason, Rothwell’s husband.

Taylor is survived by his four children, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 2:38 PM with the headline "‘Mr. Tillicum’ leaves lasting legacy in Lakewood community."