Willie Taylor

CHICAGO - Willie Taylor, 67, formerly of Essex, Mo, died Sept. 24, 2004, at the Rockford Memorial Hospital.

Born May 24, 1937, in Essex, son of the late John and Rosetta Taylor and stepson of the late Ruth Taylor, he retired from the Delmonte Corporation after 27 years of service.

On May 14, 1958, at Bloomfield, Mo., he married Ozlee Hunt who survives of Chicago.

Other survivors include: one daughter, Ruth Anita Reyes of Chicago; two stepdaughters and one son-in-law, Janie and Ramon Moreno and Bertha Ceballos of Rockford; one brother, Cleveland Taylor of Essex; one stepsister, Ella Mae Guerin of Marion, Ind.; and two grandchildren, 13 stepgrandchildren and five stepgreat-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by one stepdaughter, Julie Belmonte; one brother, Jerry Taylor; and two sisters, Willie Mae Clark and Lula Taylor.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Unger-Horner Funeral Home in Rochelle.

Visitation will continue from 10 a.m. Saturday until service time at 11 am. at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Dexter, Mo. The Rev. Moses Grayson of Essex will officiate.

Burial will follow in the Macedonia Cemetery at Malden, Mo.