FARMINGTON – Robert Edmonds “Stub” Taylor died peacefully Saturday Aug. 24, 2019 at the age of 85 with his family present. He was born July 4, 1934 to Timothy and Verna Taylor and was raised and attended the schools in Kingfield. He was very athletic and played all sports.

He is survived by his significant other for 30 years, Carol McLaughlin; five children and their spouses, MaryAnne and Randy Goodwin, David and Patrice Taylor, Christopher and Holly Taylor, Catherine and Scott Fast, and Jill and William Harrison. He had 14 grandchildren, Adrian Heatley, James Goodwin, Cody and Caleb Taylor, Lillian and Avery Taylor, Ella, Abraham, Phoebe, Solomon, and Teresa-Eden Fast, Taylor, Grace, and Brinley Harrison. He had five great-grandchildren, Braylon and Olivia Heatley, and Berlynn, Brady, and Beauden Blake.

He is predeceased by his wife, Eleanor “Poochy” Taylor; and his infant son, Robert Taylor Jr.

After high school Stub worked summers at Pierce Pond Camps where he was a Registered Maine Guide. He married his high school sweetheart “Poochy” Parsons in 1955. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army but returned home after basic training when the Korean War ended.

Little did he know that his career would actually start in 1945, at the early age of 11 years old, when Stub and other Kingfield boys tagged along with a local store owner, Amos Winter, to explore, climb, and ski Bigelow Mountain. When Flagstaff Lake was developed by CMP, it blocked the skiing access to Bigelow, forcing Amos and the “Bigelow Boys” to explore Sugarloaf for skiing opportunities.

In 1950, Amos and the Bigelow Boys and members of the Sugarloaf Ski Club starting cutting the access road and the first trail called “Winters Way.”

The first lift was installed in 1953 when Stub, then only 19 years old, became the first lift attendant and also cared for anyone who was injured during skiing. This started what became a 50-plus year career for Stub as the Sugarloaf Mountain ski patrol director. During his career he was nicknamed “Mr. Sugarloaf,” was a certified instructor for the National Ski Patrol and the Professional Ski Patrol Association. He received the “Man of the Year Award” and was inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.

In 1996 he was honored by hundreds of friends, family and Sugarloafers at a retirement party, for his years of ski patrol directorship at Sugarloaf. He continued to work at Sugarloaf for several more years in the first aid clinic, where he used his medical experience, knowledge, and skills for triaging injured skiers.

Stub also enjoyed all sports, hunting, fishing, and gardening. He was the pitcher on the local Fast Pitch Soft Ball Team that traveled all over the state until he was 53 years old. Stub encouraged all of his children to be active in sports, and he skied and played with them and went to all of their games and activities.

Stub’s legacy will continue on because he touched so many peoples’ lives. From being devoted to his wife, Eleanor, of 34 years, loving his five children and 19 grandchildren, to his successful 50-plus year career at Sugarloaf, to enjoying retirement and companionship with Carol for 30 years, and finally, down to his last four years, at the Sandy River Nursing Facility, where he was loved and cared for like family. He always demonstrated a high moral character, excellent work ethic, faith in God and Country, and with a caring attitude that will be remembered and missed by all of us who knew him, Dad/Grampa/Stub.

Funeral arrangements to be announced.

Arrangements are under the care and direction of Giberson Funeral Home and Cremation Services. To leave a condolence for the family and to view the online obituary, please visit www.gibersonfuneralhome.com