KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (30 August 2007) -- Collision industry activist March Taylor died Sunday doing what he loved to do — scuba diving off the northern shore of Hawaii. Taylor, 59, owner of Auto Body Hawaii in Kailua-Kona, died of an apparent heart attack, according to friends. "There is a huge void in the industry," says Chuck Sulkala, executive director of the National Auto Body Council. "He has done so much for so many people in his own quiet way." Sulkala was a close friend of Taylor and had known him for 25 years. When Sulkala was the outgoing chairman of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists in the late 1980s, he and his wife visited Taylor and his wife Patty in Hawaii and stayed in an apartment above Taylor's shop. It was the first of approximately 20 visits he made to Hawaii to visit Taylor. "One might think enough is enough, yet on each return, their hospitality and warmth made it feel like the first time they welcomed us to 'their island,'" he says. Toby Chess was among the first mainlanders to learn about Taylor's death when he received a call Sunday morning from Taylor's daughter, Tiffany, who works in the business. "We were like brothers," says Chess, an I-CAR instructor and industry consultant. "We shared the same likes, dislikes and interests, such as our desire to improve the industry. We would bounce ideas off each other all the time and had total respect for each other. "March has touched every collision repairer in the country and they don't even know it," Chess says. "He was tenacious about the databases and was always going after them. He had an army that fed him information to give the three database providers." Sulkala agreed. "He did more to edit, update, review and help correct the databases than anybody I know," he says. "He sent in request for review forms when times or procedures were not right. Virtually everybody I know who had an RFR sent it to him and he sent it to the three information providers. He also worked in the shop and would see when steps or procedures were overlooked or not known. He was the conscience of the repair industry when it came to data providers. The providers had a special appreciation of what he wrote because they knew the man knew his stuff and had worked through the problem. Respect begot respect." Taylor was an accomplished technician, a devoted family man and accomplished scuba diver, according to Chess. "He fixed cars because that is what he loved to do," Chess says. "He did not want to bother with the everyday part of running the business." | | March Taylor When he wasn't working on behalf of the industry on land, he loved being in the water. "The man had gills," Chess says. "There was a symbiosis between him and the water. When March went in the water, the squid jumped out. He loved spearfishing octopus and he was famous for his ability to spear squid. He pulled out 100 pounds of squid every time he and his friends went out." Dan Risley, executive director of SCRS, said the organization lost more than a board member when Taylor, a national director of SCRS, died. "We lost a member of the family," says Risley. "His physical presence may be lost but his legacy will live forever. There are not many March Taylors in the world and his love for his family, the industry, his kind-hearted spirit and giving nature are examples for all of us to live by." Taylor is survived by his wife Patty; daughters Tiffany and Tracy Jo; son March Jr.; and six grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending. SOURCE - Day Tipper, Automotive Body Repair NewsSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
