TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
Delaware River Port Authority; Board of Governors for the Brooks-Irvine Football Club; Board Member of the Homestead Youth Association; and Board Member of the Black Catholic Ministry Commis- sion. He was a faithful member of St. Stephen Parish where he served on the Finance Committee; School Board until the school closed in 2014 and Lecturer. Rick was also a member of the Knights of Columbus (4th degree). He was an avid golfer and traveled for years to Myrtle Beach, S.C. with a close group of friends. He enjoyed cooking and was an avid watcher of QVC, often buying new kitchen gadgets to add to his vast collection. Brother Ricardo Taylor, Jr. is survived by his wife of 50 years Bernice, son Scott (Donyelle), daughter Holly, three grand- children Alexandra, Jeremy, and Amelia, sister Toni Benson (Bruce) and a host of close relatives, friends, colleagues, and former students. William Taylor 1930–2019 U.S. Air Force, Media Executive
grandson, Theodore R. Taylor IV.
where in 1977, he was named the Director of Defense Information. This position, as chief of the Pentagon press operation, Taylor oversaw the media news departments for the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps, the civilian representation, and still photography. During his tenure, Taylor helped manage publicity for the military on a number of sensitive issues, from missing nuclear bombs to returned prisoners of war to the failed Iranian hostage rescue. Retiring from his military career in 1980, Taylor joined the American Petroleum Institute as a public affairs adviser. He served as a contact person for news media on the oil industry and helped manage public awareness for petroleum issues. This expertise became invaluable in 1989, when he traveled to Alaska to provide on-site assistance to Exxon ® in the aftermath of the Valdez oil spill. He subsequently organized and managed the oil industry's annual crisis management and communications seminar for eight years. In 1996, Taylor founded Action Image, a public relations consultancy and sports photography en- terprise. He has also served as a public affairs emergency response reservist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In later years, he served on advisory committees of several organizations, including the Newseum and Leisure World of Maryland. Brother Taylor was a member of the National Press Club, the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Guards- men, Inc.; the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity; and a member of the Washington, DC Pro-Duffers Golf Club and the National Negro Golf Association (NNGA). He was a long-standing member of St. Matthew Presbyterian Church in Silver Spring, MD. Brother William M. Taylor was preceded in death by his daughter, Maj. Cynthia Taylor Ward (USAF, Ret.). He is sur- vived by his beloved wife, Phyllis Moxley Taylor; daughters, Leslie (Ricardo) Taylor Stovall and Dr. Sheila (Kenneth) Taylor Goins; grandsons, Theodore (Sarah) R. Taylor III, Kenneth M. Goins, Jr. and William G. Goins; and one great-
Michael S. Thomas, Esq. 1962–2020 Attorney
Michael “Scott” Thomas entered the Chapter Invis- ible on January 29, 2020 at the age of 57 after a long and coura- geous battle with cancer. Michael Thomas was born
on August 10, 1962, the second of two sons, to Edward and Marlene Thomas in Houston, TX. His parents instilled in Thomas the value of hard work and the pursuit of educational excellence. Con- sequently, after graduating from Skyline High School in Dallas, he decided to attend the University of Houston (UH) and graduated with a degree in account- ing. While at UH, he joined the frater- nity as a 1981 initiate of the University of Houston Chapter, the Eta Lambda of Kappa Alpha Psi®. Thomas served as the Eta Lambda Polemarch and Keeper of Records as well as serving as an un- dergraduate member of the Southwest- ern Province Board of Directors. After graduation, Thomas entered near- by Texas Southern University’s Thur- good Marshall School of Law where he earned a law degree. After passing the bar, he started with his law school class- mate and best friend Bobby Williams (Pi 1981) the law office of Thomas and Wil- liams in 1994. This lifelong bond would endure for almost 30 years through all of the challenges and celebrations that the law and life would bring. He loved sports, and on any Saturday you could catch him coaching either his son’s basketball or soccer team, or coaching for the RYTES Warriors youth basketball team. Thomas also served as a referee for many youth basketball games. He was a leader of the Guide Right Program of the Missouri City (TX) Alumni Chapter as he helped shaped the lives of many young students throughout the Houston Area. He was a
William M. Taylor (Alpha 1951) en- tered the Chapter Invisible on Sep- tember 14, 2019 at the age of 88. William McKinley Taylor was born on December
24, 1930 in St. Paul, MN and grew up in Muncie, IN. He attended Indiana University at Bloomington where earned a journalism degree in 1952. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1953 and quickly worked in public information posts for the Air Force, helping the U.S. military manage media scrutiny in times of crisis. During the Vietnam War, he served as a public information officer stationed in Saigon, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thai- land. During his military career, Taylor served for many years in Southeast Asia where he learned to speak Japanese and Thai. When he returned to the United States, Taylor worked at the Pentagon
148 | SPRING 2020 ♦ THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 105 years
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