Remembering Tony Taylor

Senior class says goodbye

Tony+Taylor

Tony Taylor

Story by Joy Lee

On July 13, senior Anthony Taylor passed away due to a heart complication while swimming. Taylor was an honor roll student, involved in activities including football and debate. 

Fellow classmate and friend Isaiah Yamamura was inspired to memorialize and raise funds for his scholarship by selling a bracelet to commemorate Taylor. 

“I had the idea to make the bracelets.” Yamamura said. “We decided [to] go with his name and birthdate. First, it was just going to be for a small group of people, but then we decided to buy a whole bunch.”

What was once intended for a small group of people turned into something much bigger. Senior Grace Kafka and junior Christian Stover were two of the students that helped Yamamura with the process. 

“I really wanted to be involved in any way just because Tony was somebody in our class that everybody knew; everybody loved Tony,” Kafka said. 

Yamamura, Kafka, Stover utilized social media to distribute the bracelets. They decided to sell them for $2 each, and all funds went toward the Tony Taylor Memorial Scholarship Fund, managed by his church, South Broadway Baptist. 

“I miss him,” Stover says. “Don’t forget him because he was a good person.”