You’ve probably noticed him sweeping the chapel or running a mop across the atrium floor in the music building. If you’re not paying attention, Don Taylor and the work he does for Houghton College might be missed. But, focus in for just a moment, and you get a glimpse of one of the most dedicated staff members that has kept the wheels turning at Houghton for over 39 years.
Born in Butler, Pennsylvania in 1949, Don’s father and mother were camp missionaries in the region. Growing up as middle child on a rural farmhouse near a bible college, he knew his Bible stories from a very young age. They moved north to Little Valley, not far from Houghton, in 1960 when his father became part of an active mission in the area. Don had long hoped to obtain a Bible or religion degree and follow in the footsteps of his father – serving local communities and leading people to the Lord through Sunday schools and camps. In 1973, after completing college work as he’d planned (a degree in Bible and Christian Education from United Wesleyan College), Don moved to southern Ohio to work with a mission project there, but came home because he thought his heart for ministry was in southern New York. “But,” he said, “the Lord seemed to be closing that door and the Houghton door opened up when people didn’t have as many jobs anymore and support for missions couldn’t be raised easily.” On January 21st, 1975 he came to work on custodial staff at Houghton College. “I was exempted from Vietnam so I came and joined the army here at Houghton,” he said, grinning at the memory of that first day. (President Mullen would graduate a year later in 1976).
Ironically, he recalls, his first placement for cleaning was in the chapel and the old music building. During his first two years or so he was commuting from Little Valley on the weekends and staying in town during the week. “I was a single guy for the first year or two,” he said jokingly, “then some folks on custodial set me up with this girl I’d know in the past who now worked in the library.” He and Darlene, his to-be-wife for over 30 years, were successfully paired by their coworkers and settled in the town for the life. Their two children both graduated from Houghton and he now has six energetic grandsons.
“I think over a thousand different students have been my workers over the years,” he recalled thoughtfully. When asked about his favorite funny or memorable stories, Don grinned cheekily, savoring what is, I’m sure, a mountain of ridiculous memories. “I believe it was a homecoming weekend, I came in early and did some rounds and everything seemed fine. But as the daylight came in, I realized that there were seats missing, just the bottom pieces, in all three sections.”
He paused, laughed to himself for a moment, and then continued on. “After the event we went through and marked all of the seats (which were all different sizes). When we finished the chart, the seats missing spell out GAO – one letter in each of the three sections. This was the old men’s dorm that the college was going to tear down (it stood where Fancher is now). I think it was some kind of protest.” We both chortled for a few moments and commented on the subtle cleverness of the scheme. “I also lived through many floods, particularly in the chapel and Presser Hall.”
Don Taylor will retire in the coming days after almost 40 years of tireless service to Houghton College. He has worked through the administrations of 4 different presidents (Paine, Dayton, Chamberlain, Mullen) and set up the chairs for the graduation of more than 9,000 Houghton College graduates. He is a tireless worker and the oil that keeps this academic machine turning. Thank Don, thank you for everything.