Themes & Grand Marshals

No strangers to the community, Ken and Lynn Taylor have been an active part of civic life for more than three decades.

Lynn graduated from Hixson High School in Chattanooga. She pursued a career as a Registered Radiologic Technologist. She and Ken met at the Cookeville General Hospital where she worked in the X-Ray department, and he was an orderly.

Ken graduated from Franklin County High School in 1972, and went on to pursue a degree in chemistry from Tennessee Tech. After being denied admission to medical school in 1976, Taylor went on to get his masters in microbiology. He had worked for years to make his dream of becoming a physician a reality, but after working for 18 months in a lab studying tuberculosis bacteria, he turned down an offer from Vanderbilt. He wanted to come home. 

Ken and Lynn had stayed in touch through the years. She moved to the mountain in 1986. Lynn applied for a position as a CT technologist at the Winchester Southern Tennessee Medical Center, and soon after was named Director of Radiology there. She then went to work at an orthopedic surgeon’s office. Ken and Lynn were married in 1988.

Before opening Taylor’s Mercantile, Ken got his start as a small business entrepreneur selling his greenhouse-raised plants on the steps in front of the University Bookstore on campus. He had built a greenhouse at his mother’s house in Jump Off, in 1981. Ken and his mother, Evelyn, bought Hamilton Hardware and Electric in 1984 and Taylor’s Mercantile began. Both were working at Emerald-Hodgson Hospital at the time. 

Lynn retired from the medical field in 2015 to help her husband full-time in the family business.

Ken and Lynn are active members at the Parish of St. Mark and St. Paul, having served on the vestry. Lynn is currently the senior warden and has been active with Stephen Ministries.

Ken has served on the boards of the Sewanee Civic Association, Folks at Home, Contact Lifeline, and is a member of the Sewanee Business Alliance and St. Augustine’s Guild. He has been a member of the University’s Special Events Team for the last 15 years.

Their favorite part of living here is the support from the community.  Taylor’s Mercantile will soon celebrate 40 years in business. Their reasoning behind being the longest continuous business owners in Sewanee’s history is the incredible sense of “Ecce Quam Bonum” that characterizes the community. The duo’s dedication and talents are evident in community events such as receptions, weddings and special occasions. The annual Greening of the Chapel is the highlight of each year for them, helping to bring the community together to prepare for Lessons and Carols.

Ken and Lynn still live out in the Jump Off community with their three dogs. Their daughter, Anna Lee, lives in Chattanooga. They are honored to be selected as grand marshals for the Sewanee Fourth of July parade. They are looking forward to seeing old friends and to represent the whole community in such a wonderful small town tradition.

Please join us on Tuesday, July 4, to celebrate Ken and Lynn, two of Sewanee’s finest!