Liberty dedicates athletic training facility to deceased professor

Jeff Taylor Sr.’s wife, Mary Clare, and son, Jeff Taylor Jr., unveil the plaque during a memorial service Friday, April 30.

Liberty University dedicated its Athletic Training Education Laboratory Friday at a memorial service for Jeffrey O. Taylor, a former assistant professor of Health Sciences and Kinesiology who was killed in a tragic baseball accident during batting practice with his son at Lynchburg College last year. Wednesday, April 28, was the first anniversary of Taylor’s death.

Members of Taylor’s family attended the memorial, along with Liberty University staff and administration, including Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Vice Chancellor Ron Godwin.

Ralph Linstra, chairman and professor of the Department of Health Sciences, said the purpose of the memorial was to “celebrate life,” the life of a great man who is responsible for creating Liberty’s Athletic Training Program.

Taylor’s favorite Bible verse, 1 Timothy 4:8, was read during the ceremony: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

At the end of the service, members of Taylor’s family unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the new laboratory.

On Friday evening, Liberty University Athletics and the LU baseball team hosted its first Jeffrey Owen Taylor Memorial Scholarship night at Worthington Stadium against Big South Conference opponent Gardner Webb. Taylor’s wife, Mary Clare, threw the first pitch. A scholarship, with donations collected by members of the Lynchburg College baseball team, was presented to a senior athletic training student.

• View a video about Taylor and his contributions to Liberty at www.libertyflames.com.