‘Deeply missed;’ Longtime school employee honored after losing battle to cancer
A local school district is pushing through the loss of a beloved employee, who was with the district for more than three decades.
Michael Taylor worked as a custodian for Greenon Local Schools since 1989, and he lost his battle to cancer over the weekend.
His memory will live on forever in the school, and the people who knew him.
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“Staff is hanging in there the best that they can;” Darrin Knapke, the Superintendent for Greenon Local schools said.
It’s been difficult to suddenly no longer see someone who was there everyday for 35 years.
“You figure how many years we’ve been with him. So yeah, it’s pretty rough,” Shelley Williams said.
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Williams, who works in the kitchen for Greenon Local Schools, is taking the loss especially hard, as Taylor was more than just a colleague, but a longtime friend.
“We went to school together here at Greenon Local. He was just, we he made it fun. It was just a great place to be with Mike,” Williams said. “I think everyone that came in contact with Mike. They had great stories to tell he was just a good overall guy.”
Students throughout the years feel the same way about Taylor.
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“He had a great interaction with the students,” Knapke said. “He showed them what it meant to be respectful and also taught them just dedication, what he did every single day.”
Dedication like how Taylor still came into work while battling cancer at the same time for the past 8 years.
“He was he was a person that’s going to be deeply missed,” Williams said.
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Knapke wanted to do something to help those who were missing Taylor.
“We did decide to close school on Friday to show our respects to Mike Taylor,” Knapke said.
A decision that meant a lot to Williams.
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“I was absolutely excited that we were going to cancel school so we could honor Mike,” Williams said.
The decision was made so that everyone could go to his funeral services.
“There’s no replacing like No 35 years. That’s a long time. And then to be a person that you went to school with also, you can’t replace that,” Williams said.
