Stan Taylor’s legacy donation has supported our Stambition mentoring program

Stan Taylor’s legacy donation has supported our Stambition mentoring program

When Stan Taylor died, his family wanted to find a fitting way to remember him. His son, John Taylor, contacted the charity and agreed that the family would make a donation supporting our brand new mentoring program called Stambition in his memory. You can find out more about the program here.

His son sent in the words below about his father. We are very grateful to the Taylor family for their support of our Charity.

The stammer wasn’t an issue within the family. It was as much Stan as his glasses and full head of black hair. It was the norm … but only within the family, at home, because, when the conductor came down the bus, he was getting ready to ask for “Two and two halves to …”, and we knew then that it wasn’t the norm, and shared the relief as the conductor reeled out the tickets.

Stan Taylor was born in June 1924 in Upper Clapton, east London. His mother was widowed when only 31 with three sons, nine-year-old Stan the eldest, and a pension of ten shillings (50p) a week. An intelligent boy, Stan won a place at the Grocers’ School, Hackney Downs.

In September 1939 Stan’s school was evacuated to King’s Lynn. He returned home in 1940 to a clerical job at Hackney Town Hall and the Blitz. He served with the Home Guard until conscripted into the Royal Army Service Corps. A week after D-Day, when he was barely 20, Stan was transported across the Channel to Normandy. At SHAEF HQ in Rheims in May 1945, he was part of the team that transmitted news of Germany’s unconditional surrender to all allied units.

For 65 years Stan was married to Doreen Bignal, whom he met in the British zone of occupied Germany. They settled in London on the new Woodberry Down Estate near Finsbury Park. They had a daughter and a son, Pat and John.

In the 1950s Stan worked in commercial conveyancing and then intellectual property, but most of his working life was in the Hampshire offices of the American company, IBM. With their assistance he was able to buy a house in Winchester where he lived for the rest of his life.

Retiring in their late fifties, Stan and Doreen took up golf, becoming members of the Royal Winchester Club. They also found time for bowls and enjoyed their club’s annual tour based in Torquay. They went abroad for holidays in the sun and would phone Christmas greetings from Gran Canaria. They lived long enough to see their grandchildren have families of their own.

Although Stan found life lonely when he lost Doreen in 2012, he was often out for bowls matches, walks and buses to and from town, and family occasions, hospitality and holidays; he particularly enjoyed being taken on a cruise to St Petersburg when he was 90. He supported and visited Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and went to local screenings and concerts.  At home, he had his books and music and latterly the internet on his tablet. “Trouble is,” he said, “I don’t have time to do half what I want”. The table at home was covered with books and magazines.

Just before his 95^th birthday, Stan took part in the commemorations for the 75^th anniversary of D-Day. Pat accompanied him criss-crossing the Channel and attending ceremonies where, displaying his medals, he was introduced to royalty and heads of government. President Macron thanked him “for liberating my country”.

Stan read widely, particularly enjoying Shakespeare and Dickens, and had a large collection of classical music recordings. Because of his stammer he was never a conversationalist, but when you got him talking you appreciated there wasn’t much he didn’t know. Well into his 90s he was asked about a crossword clue, something to do with an opera, one letter and eight letters. “I Puritani” was his immediate answer.

If you would like to leave us a legacy donation, please read more here.