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CONTINUED FROM 1A mately sculpted her life's work. Her first job was at the mis sion and while there in December 1947, a hobo from North Carolina who jumped off a freight train and was ready to leap into the river, came through the doors. On March 13, 1948, he became her husband, Cecil Taylor. I felt like I had known him for years; it felt so right,” Janie said, noting their 11- year age difference wouldn't work for everyone. The Taylors eventually moved to Florida and found ed a mission in Orlando. They ran the still-existing site for 11 years before they left mis sion work and moved to Den ver, then Greensboro, N.C. Finally ending up at a mis sion in Hagerstown, the cou ple learned there was an interest in starting one in Cumberland. “In the beginning, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into another mission, Janie said. “But when the Lord wants you somewhere, he lets you know that’s where your feet belong.” The Taylors’ son, Dan, was 13 and his younger sister, Janie, 12, when the family moved to Cumberland in August 1962. With the ministerial associ ation supporting their efforts but businessmen along Vir ginia Avenue opposed to a site there, the owner of the building at 16 Queen City Pavement gave Cecil Taylor the building for $1. Renova tions began shortly there after and on Nov. 7, 1963, the doors to the Union Rescue Mission opened. Now debt free, the site has grown to almost the entire block through the hard work of and many prayers from the Tay lors, who lived in the building. “I thought it was a terrible inconvenience for a teenag er,” Dan said of living in the building. “My friends and I avoided the place mostly in those days, but it was a life lesson. I got to know all the wines and hobos. I learned a lot about the seamier side of life and about people living in poverty.’ Janie worked at the former Sacred Heart Hospital on Decatur Street and then with the General Adjustment Bureau, from which she retired. “Being able to preach the gospel and feed the little chil dren, seeing families get back together again and Christmas, especially to see the smiles on the little kids’ faces who don't have much,” Janie said of her greatest joys. The Taylors tried to retire once — in August 1980 — and moved to Florida. Two years later, they returned to the Queen City, where Cecil was executive and Janie joined the mission full time as the associate director. Janie also called on her son to help “for a little while.” Almost 20 years later, he's still there with his wife, Terry, helping to move the mission forward. In 1996, he was named executive director. His dad died the same year at the age of 78. In his November newslet ter, Dan pays tribute to his parents. “This is a house built by God but it was my mom and dad’s generation that drove the nails, he said. “Because of my mom and people like her, countless thousands of people have walked through the doors of this mission and found help, hope and a friend to get them through the night. In the gospel mission tradition, the hungry have been fed, the homeless have found shelter and the gospel has been preached to the poor.” Janie has no doubt as to how Dan will do now that he’s officially on his own. “He's great,” the grandmother of four and great-grandmother to five said, “My boy is God's blessing,” “I am no preacher, I am no evangelist,” he tells his peo ple. “I am an old soldier who likes to talk about Jesus. ... I see my feet planted where I never thought they’d be doing God's work.” In many ways, he sounds like his mom, who turns 79 on Nov. 26 and retired from the mission on Oct. 16, although she continues to volunteer. Her son finds it ironic that after 60 years of helping thou sands of people, she'll draw Social Security and join the ranks of the poor. Maria Smith can be reached at geste LIMES NULON CLOT
Newspaper Details
Cumberland Times News
Cumberland, Maryland, US
Sat, Nov 10, 2007
Page 26
Full Page
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USA 18 Jun 2026
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