Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor and Ray Vahey were a gay couple, partners from 1956 until 2006, when Richard passed away at the age of 81. According to partner Vahey's recollections, recounted in an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Taylor grew up in Cleveland Ohio. "When Richard was 17, he convinced his father to allow him to join the Navy during World War II," Vahey said. Taylor served aboard a naval tanker on convoy duty, first in the North Atlantic and then in the Mediterranean, and finally into the Pacific.