Timothy Taylor of Escondido was very talented with his hands, able to fix most anything around the house, make furniture and dentures, and draw beautifully. But he is perhaps most remembered for his keen sense of humor and his talent for telling a good joke.

"If you were in a bad mood, you wouldn't be after a while with him," said his eldest daughter, Michelle, who lives in Lake Elsinore with husband Kenny and their three children. "He was a funny guy."

Born in Cincinnati on Nov. 7, 1942, one of four children, Taylor passed away Feb. 5 from complications of a malignant brain tumor at the age of 64.

July 4 was Taylor's favorite holiday. "All his brothers used to come out," said Michelle. "All of the family was at our house because fireworks were legal there. I think they still are."

Taylor also loved to sing, work on the Sunday crossword puzzles and fish. In fact, he met his wife, Connie, while the two were fishing at Lake Wohlford.

"I had gone to the west shore and was fishing by myself, so I set my drag loose on my poles to go to the restroom," remembered Connie. "Tim was there with his buddy Bruce, so I asked them to just leave it there if I got a fish. When I got back, Bruce was so upset because I had a fish on one of the poles. He said, 'I think you had a fish there but it was 20 minutes ago.'"

Connie reeled in a 2 1/2-pound trout and then caught a couple of more before Tim asked what she was using as bait.

"Berkeley had just come out with these little miniature rubber worms with a scent on them - Power Worms, they were called," she recalled. "I gave them a couple, and then Tim went up to the bait and tackle shop and bought them. He stuck three of them on a treble hook and put it out there. He caught a 5 1/2-pound trout within 30 minutes."

The couple's first date was at the Lake Wohlford Resort, where they shared some mud pie. "We were both so nervous, we left a bar stool between us," Connie said. "We just clicked right away."

Later, they found they had been born just 45 days apart and that they had been in the same class at Freemont Junior High School in Anaheim, though they didn't know each other then.

"We had the era in common, the music and a lot of things people don't realize. We were very compatible. We just seemed to agree on everything."

After high school, Connie said, her husband joined the Navy to see the world. Stationed at Camp Pendleton, he served as a dental technician, making dental bridges.

Daughter Michelle remembers her father always working at lumber stores when the young family lived in Garden Grove. Taylor also worked at Dixieline Lumber in Escondido, General Mill Works in San Marcos and for a mailing company in Encinitas called Sierra Padre.

At the memorial service last weekend, his wife said many of his colleagues thought to attend and remembered him for his sense of humor. "Everyone who knew him loved him," she said. "He was so fun to be around; he made a light atmosphere for people. And he was very sincere. When we worked on commission, he would never beat his buddies to a sale, he was that kind of guy."

"He loved to make people laugh," agreed Michelle. "He could remember jokes. The grandkids loved to watch him draw and to go to the horse races" at Del Mar.

Whether he was singing Hoyt Axton songs in the shower, weaving macrame plant hangers, or just telling a good joke and remembering the punchline, Taylor will be missed by family and friends. The family suggests donations be made to the Community Lutheran Church Building Fund for the New Sanctuary.

- Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.