This is the life story of Lester Dewey Taylor, aka, Comrad. Lester was an amazing man full of wit, charm, and laughter who was blessed beyond measure for 77 years. He was a grateful husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, deacon, Soldier, mechanic, farmer and collector.

Lester's story started on October 14, 1942, as the second oldest child to Georgie & Dewey Taylor. He was born in Boston, VA where he was raised and baptized in Shiloh Baptist Church. On May 27, 1964, Lester was called to serve in the United States Army. Private First Class Taylor was trained as a truck vehicle mechanic and served one tour overseas in Germany where he earned the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Badge and the nickname Comrad.

Upon being Honorably Discharged from the Army, Comrad moved to New York in 1966 where he met the love of his life, Mary Elizabeth Young of South Carolina. Lester and Mary were immediately attracted to each other by their mutual love of R&B music. Their whirlwind romance resulted in their marriage on July 20, 1975. During their 44 years of marriage, Lester worked for the Dick Gidron Dealership, the United Postal Service, and the NYC Transit where he worked for 22 years until his retirement.

After retiring from the NYC Transit, Lester and Mary decided to relocate the family to Exmore, VA. Lester, a "farmer" at heart, quickly became the 'John Deere' of Exmore, which was evident by the fleet of tractors he purchased over the years. He loved his tractors, but was also fond of other oddities. If you needed it, Lester had it. He amassed enough oddities to leave Ripley's Believe or Not in disbelief! From tractor-trailers, to wood chippers to ice cream trucks, go karts, motorcycles, tools and more tools.

Lester was ordained as Deacon in Shiloh Baptist Church and volunteered to spend time every week visiting the elderly at the nursing home and making home visits to check on the sick. Lester had it all and then some! He was blessed beyond measure.

Lester is reunited with his Mother, Georgie and Father, Dewey as well as his older twin brothers Albert and Andrew, and his sisters, Mary, Bernadette, Maggie, and Alva. He is survived by his loving wife, Mary and their ten children: Darrin, (Linda), Reggie (Felicia), Amir (Debbie), Ebonie (Howard), Monte (Dawn), Stacy, Leslie, Gwendolyn, Octavias, and Zakia (Shaun). His 14 grandchildren Lauryn and Eissa, Timothy and Jenovah, Darrin II and Kennedy, Jennah, Howard Jr. and Harihson, Reggeé and Maya, Athena and Aurora, Monte II and Dontae, Darrius, Dawn, numerous great-grandchildren and an adopted foster son, Albert Tazewell. His brothers: Earl (Sandra), Larry (Dorothy), Leonard (JoAnn); his sisters, Patricia and Deborah; sons-in love, Jay Quintana and Kimba Webb, his sisters-in-love, Evelyn and Monique, a host of other relatives friends and his Shiloh Baptist Church Family.