Dr. Gordon Taylor

May 29, 1935 – January 14, 2024

Dr. Gordon Taylor “is happiest when he has a project”, according to his son Bob. A high-achieving doctor with a storied career as an anesthesiologist at Stanford, he was very committed to his work and “certainly somebody you looked up to,” says his son Chris.

Gordon Taylor was born May 29, 1935 in London, England, to Doris Bertha and George Henry Taylor. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a doctor, setting the stage for a medical career for their son. Gordon also had an older stepbrother, Jimmy, and a younger brother, Roger.

Gordon spent his early years in SW18 in London. But during the WWII evacuations in 1940, he and his brother Roger were sent to Canada, where they lived with various families who had taken in children from England. In particular, he has fond memories of the Williams family’s home, where he shared a double bed with his brother. Gordon recalls that Ruth Williams and her husband Stan were “very kind” during his year with them, and his sons have long observed his “huge connection” with the Williams family.

After WWII ended, young Gordon returned to England, where he lived with his mother and attended Battersea Grammar School in Streatham before eventually starting medical school at King’s College, followed by clinical training at Westminster. He took his first job working as an NHS house office, and considered specializing in surgery before deciding that anesthesiology suited him much better.

He crossed the pond and joined the medical faculty at Stanford in California, where he had a tight-knit group of colleagues who would throw block parties on the weekends. Then he proceeded to establish himself in Carson City, NV while keeping a foot in the door part-time at Stanford, to where he ultimately returned until his retirement.

Gordon was a father to Robert (Bob), from his first marriage; and Christopher (Chris) and his adopted son Julian, from his second marriage. Gordon’s grandchildren include Bob’s three boys – Jacques, Max and Robbie – as well as Chris’s son, Cooper. While back at Stanford, Gordon met his wife Kay, a nurse director, and her children Mary Beth and Richard. The couple married in 1991 at a friend’s winery in the Bay Area.

In 2001, after Kay’s retirement, the couple moved to Maui. Gordon & Kay would often welcome visits from friends and family, including their children. Even after retiring, Gordon continued to share his medical knowledge by giving guest lectures at the University of Hawaii in Hilo. “He could pass along a lot of information in a short amount of time,” says Chris. “He was very well-spoken… a good storyteller.”

Gordon and Kay would often welcome visits from friends and family, including his sons.

Dr Gordon Taylor passed away at Maui Memorial Hospital on January 14, 2024. A “Celebration of Life” will be held in California at a later date in 2024.