Obituary of Theodore D’Arcy Taylor

April 15, 2026

Theodore D’Arcy Taylor, beloved son, brother, partner, and dear friend to many, died on April 15, 2026, at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York City at the age of 65 due to ongoing complications following lung cancer treatment.

The eldest of three children, Ted was born in Petersburg, Virginia, on September 3, 1960, to Theodore Linwood Taylor and Carolyn Quedell Cooper Taylor. The family also lived in Texas before returning to Petersburg, where Ted graduated from Petersburg High School.

Ted attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he was active in student government and received a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics in 1982.

His career began in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. In 1989, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area to work in business software sales for Wang Laboratories. He moved to New York City in 1992 where he worked as a catalog model for several years before returning to sales in 1998, working for luxury brands Audi, David Yurman, and John Hardy. In 2020, he brought his considerable skills in relationship building to the non-profit world, serving as director of giving first for Youth America Grand Prix and then the Harlem School of the Arts, and consulting for the Museum of Arts and Design and Vildwerk Foundation.

Ted’s career matched his talents and passions. He inspired fascination, made connections easily, told a good story, was disarmingly frank, and could make anyone laugh. He loved helping people find the car, cable bracelet, or cause that made them feel good about themselves. He formed close, lifelong friendships with many coworkers.

Exercise was a pillar of Ted’s life. A skinny kid growing up, he enjoyed strength training, developing a regimen that kept him looking and feeling great. His personal trainers became good friends, and he offered his own fitness advice to the many who asked. He enjoyed playing and watching tennis and was a football and college basketball fan.

Sobriety was a part of Ted’s daily journey for more than 35 years. He developed faith in a higher power and helped and sponsored many fellow addicts in meetings and personal interactions.

Ted loved cars. The details of the makes, models, trims, and finishes of cars he and his family and friends owned anchored his memories as characters in his life (particularly the red Miata).

On August 6, 2011, Ted met Adam Hardy Johnson on the beach in the Fire Island Pines. Their love developed into a lifelong partnership as their lives, loves, friends, and families merged into a rich shared life whose sum was greater than its parts. In 2019, their dog Henry completed the picture.

To know Ted was a joy. To be loved by Ted was a privilege—he was an unfailingly loyal and fiercely protective friend. He touched many lives for good. No one was like him, and no one ever will be.

Ted is predeceased by his parents, his brother Joseph Clinton Taylor, and his sister Terri Lynn Taylor. Ted is survived by his partner Adam and his cousins Joan Jacquelyn Johnson (née Gatlin) and Howard D’Arcy Taylor.

Family and friends are invited to celebrate Ted’s life at a memorial on Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York, New York. The time and location, and details for remote attendance, will be announced soon.

Ted’s family suggests memorial donations be directed to The Phoenix to provide fitness opportunities for those in recovery or to SAGE to support housing and direct services for gay and lesbian elders.