Marlon Ray Taylor
Died July 2, 2024
Dallas, Texas
Marlon Ray Taylor died July 2, 2024, in Dallas after a long illness. His wife, Janie Paleschic, was by his side. He was 73.
He was born in Clarksville, Tenn., on April 26, 1951, to Doris and Paul Taylor. The family moved to Amarillo, Texas, in 1965 where Marlon graduated from Tascosa High School in 1969. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1973 with an interdisciplinary degree in photojournalism. He believed he was the first “photoj” grad at UT.
His life was defined by his love for outdoor adventures, his artistry through photography, and his great love for his family and his close friends, who were really like a second family.
Marlon developed a love for the outdoors early in life during many weekend outings with his family to Kentucky Lake near his boyhood home and on many hunting and fishing trips with his father. He learned hiking, camping and backpacking skills with the Boy Scouts and found a kindred spirit in Janie with whom he shared many adventures in Big Bend and the Grand Teton National Parks and the Wind River Range in Wyoming. A Texas Panhandle bird hunting expedition with his friend, John Van Beekum, was an annual event for decades. He was a true outdoorsman with the heart of an adventurer.
A love for photography began as soon as he held a Canon camera in his high school journalism class. His first job was with Autry’s Photography Studio in Amarillo, where he was assigned to photograph newborn babies at area hospitals. Following three years of photographing babies, high school athletic and social events, he enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin as an architecture major, a choice that he said didn’t last long given his drawing skills. He soon changed his major and joined the staff of The Daily Texan and Texas Student Publications as a photographer, working with friends Stanley Farrar and Ike Baruch.
He went on to a professional life as a commercial photographer and studio manager. This provided him with a social circle he cherished, and an artistic home that suited and fed his soul for the rest of his life. His career evolved from its UT-Austin roots through stops in Dallas, Los Angeles, Richmond, Boston and finally back to Dallas to produce a portfolio of work that reflected his creativity and leadership. His career included his own business, Marlon Taylor & Co., which eventually became an in-house operation at Joske’s. He often partnered with his friend Jack Ridley.
Over the years, he posted hundreds of his images on social media as he shared an eclectic range of his work from the fashion, advertising and photojournalism worlds that made up his career. But people especially responded to his photos of nature including two dozen camping trips to Big Bend. He continued to shoot pictures until the very end of his life.
With Janie he also shared a love of music including subscriptions to the Dallas Symphony and the Dallas Opera, and concerts with Bob Dylan, Neil Young and many others.
Marlon was a much loved and admired member of his family. He loved his family even as he developed many lifelong friends — his second family — whose friendships he nurtured and treasured. Both families join as his survivors to honor this creative, talented, compassionate man whose legacy also survives.
He was preceded in death by his parents. Survivors include his wife, Janie Paleschic, his brother, Weldon Taylor, and his sister, Kathryn Taylor Steinle. He also leaves many other close family members, including nieces, nephews and cousins. Countless friends also mourn him.
A memorial service is being planned for a later date.
