Posted on 10/24/2018
Captain John Taylor Rigsbee, U.S. Navy (Ret.), passed away quietly in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on September 8, 2017. He was 90 years old. Taylor, as he was known, was born in Durham, North Carolina, on February 7, 1927. The only child of John and Pauline Rigsbee, he was raised in Durham and participated in the Navy V-12 program at Duke University for a year, before transferring to the U.S. Naval Academy. Graduating in 1949, Taylor began a long Navy career, primarily in the submarine fleet. An early member of the nuclear submarine program, he had assignments on both the east and west coasts, as well as in Hawaii and Guam. He served as commanding officer of the Nuclear Power School at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, USS Swordfish (SSN-579), the USS Proteus (AS-19), and Oceanographic Systems Pacific, located on Ford Island, Hawaii. After over 30 years in the Navy, Taylor retired and began a second career as a proposal and project manager for several defense contractors in the Washington, DC, area. Several years after retirement, CAPT Rigsbee was honored by the Navy, based on his experience in command at sea, by being selected and trained as a "Convoy Commodore" making him eligible to be recalled to active duty to command merchant ship convoys in the event of a war or national emergency. Taylor and his wife Helen lived in the same house in Bethesda, Maryland, for 40 years, before moving to Hilton Head several years ago. He and Helen would be regularly seen walking their dogs in their neighborhood. They loved to travel, but were also happy just to be working and fixing things up around their home, as well as their summer house in the Northern Neck area of Virginia. Taylor loved sharing stories with people, and had a great, distinctive laugh that made him easy to locate at parties (and even in the background of a Bob Newhart recording). He and Helen also opened their home to a large number of international students visiting and studying in the DC area, and built relationships that lasted for many years afterwards. Taylor collected stamps and covers for much of his life, and had a great eye for antiques. Taylor was preceded in death by his parents, John and Pauline, his first wife, Marion, daughter, Rebecca, and step-son, Bill. He is survived by his wife, Helen, sons, Peter and John, step-sons, Doug and David, and seven grandchildren. Captain Rigsbee will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on October 29, 2018, after a service in the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, commencing at 1 p.m.Captain Rigsbee will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on October 29, 2018, after a service in the Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, commencing at 1 p.m.
Sauls Funeral Home
90 Simmonsville Road
Bluffton, SC 29910
(843)815-5535
Published in The Washington Post on Oct. 24, 2018