Jack Taylor knew what he wanted out of life. Even better, he made it happen.

“Jack had a goal, without question, of managing and owning a construction firm, not just being an employee or partner,” said Steve Chapman, who first talked to Taylor about career goals some 30 years ago. “He certainly achieved that goal.”

When Taylor died on Oct. 6, he had compiled a remarkable list of achievements. He not only built a far-reaching construction firm, Taylor Construction Group, but also served the Central Iowa community in countless roles. Taylor, a native of Creston, Iowa, held leadership positions in the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation, the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, the United Way of Central Iowa and more.

He served on the boards of the Des Moines Art Center, the Des Moines Metro Opera and more.

“Jack was always looking for more in life,” said Chapman, the president of ITA Group. “Not in the sense of financial reward or power, more in the sense of being able to have a greater impact. He had very definite ideas, and he was very self-confident.”

Taylor graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in engineering and served with the U.S. Army in Korea from 1970 until 1972.

He came to Des Moines in 1976 and started working for Ringland-Johnson-Crowley Co., a construction business. Eight years later, he and Daryl Ball bought the company and renamed it Taylor Ball. Taylor Construction Group came into existence in 2001.

Bill Kimball, the former owner of Medicap Pharmacies Inc., arrived in Des Moines about the same time Taylor did. “Jack was a good friend to talk to about business opportunities and challenges as well as personal opportunities and challenges,” said Kimball, who lived near Taylor, attended the same church and, like Taylor, bought the company he worked for. “We certainly had opportunities to share a lot of things with each other, knowing that it would stay between us,” Kimball said.

Pheasant-hunting trips in Iowa and fishing trips to Canada became part of their long friendship, along with golf outings. “He had an incredibly high energy level,” Kimball said. “Jack could be more places in a week than most of us in a month.”

Des Moines Symphony conductor Joseph Giunta’s first contact with Taylor was a cold call. “When I first came to town, all of the CEOs knew I was calling to get into their pockets, and most of them wouldn’t give me the time of day,” he said. “Only two CEOs returned my call: [the late] David Kruidenier and Jack Taylor.”

The two became friends over the years, and last spring Taylor asked Giunta to help plan the music for his funeral. “There was a very private, sensitive side to Jack that I don’t think many people knew about,” Giunta said. “He really was moved and touched by music.”

“I seldom saw him not smiling and happy and enjoying life,” Chapman said. “The challenges he faced, he didn’t burden his friends with. I never saw him have a woe-is-me attitude about anything, including the final days of his life.”

Chapman went to visit Taylor during his final hospital stay. “It was pretty apparent what stage he was at,” Chapman said. “At the same time, he never once told me he hurt or said I miss this or that – although he did say the chicken in his hospital meal could have been warmer.”

Chapman also spotted his friend at last summer’s Iowa State Fair, sitting in a wheelchair in front of the stage at a concert by James Taylor. “I got down to eye level and hugged him,” Chapman recalled. “He looked at me, both of our eyes were filled with tears, and he said, ‘Steve, it’s been a great ride.'”