Richard L. Taylor Jr. | Railroad office worker, 76

Richard L. Taylor Jr., 76, a former railroad office worker and amateur sports coach, died of heart failure Christmas Day at his home in Aston.

In 1990, Mr. Taylor retired as an assistant manager in the mechanical department of Conrail after a 35-year career that began with the Pennsylvania Railroad and continued with the Penn Central and Conrail.

He then worked at Gooey Louie's, the family's sandwich shop, in the Pennsport neighborhood of South Philadelphia.

Born in Ridley Park, Mr. Taylor graduated from Fitchburg (Mass.) High School in 1951 and was a Navy clerk, stationed mostly in Norfolk, Va.

While on military baseball teams, said Elizabeth, his wife of 51 years, Mr. Taylor played against major-league stars on other military teams, including Wes Covington, Dick Groat, and Willie Mays.

After he was discharged, she said, he continued to play on baseball teams in Upper Darby, was an officer with the Aston Athletic Association in the 1960s, and was president of the Sun Valley Touchdown Club in the 1970s.

He was a member of American Legion Post 926.

Besides his wife, Mr. Taylor is survived by a son, Richard A.; daughters Ann Azer, Margaret Guy, and Helen Pietrewicz; a sister; and 13 grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. today at the Minshall Shropshire-Bleyler Funeral Home, Route 352 and Knowlton Road, Middletown, Delaware County.

A second visitation will be held there from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. tomorrow before a 10 a.m. Funeral Mass at the Church of St. Joseph, 3255 Concord Rd., Aston. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.