Francis Taylor

On June 11, 2020, Francis Lloyd Taylor, age 83 of Broadus, passed away of complications from a stroke, surrounded by his close family.

Francis was born on October 13, 1936 to Lloyd and Evelyn Taylor in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. He was the oldest of six children. Out of necessity, he learned to work hard from a young age while growing up on Ranch Creek, just south of Broadus, MT. Francis graduated from Powder River County High School in 1956. He married Thelma Burley on June 29, 1957, and together they raised four children in Broadus.

For over 65 years Francis drove truck. During his lifetime he hauled livestock, produce, lumber, among many other things. Francis enjoyed his many round trips to Alaska loaded with hunting horses. He and Thelma once hauled a load of registered cattle from coast to coast, and together they saw both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans on the same trip. This trip, along with his Alaska hauls were his idea of a vacation, illustrating what a truly hard worker Francis was; work with a side of beautiful scenery was considered vacation to him. After being quizzed by a pair of curious grandsons, Francis named several trucks that he'd put a million miles on during his life. To put that number into perspective, his grandsons calculated that a million miles is roughly 40 times around the earth or 2 trips to the moon and back.

Along with long haul trucking, Francis was a partner in a cement business, and ranched in the Belle Creek area up until the time of his death.

Francis will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend.

Francis was preceded in death by his parents, Lloyd and Evelyn Taylor and his brother David. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Thelma; his son, James Taylor (Jacque), and daughters, Kim Carlos-Flagen, Dixie Rogers (John), and Pam Fletcher (Clark). He also left behind 11 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandson.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to St. Jude's Childerns Hospital.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2020 at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Broadus from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. A funeral service will be held on Friday, June 19th , 2020 at 11:00 at Faith Bible Church in Broadus. Interment will follow in the family plot at the Valley View Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: http://www.stevensonandsons.com.