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WHITSETT — At Bobby Lee Taylor's funeral Thursday, the family tried to find words to describe the store owner and retired firefighter, to say how much he'd be missed.

But the community had already showed that better than it could be said. The night before, an estimated 1,800 people came to pay their respects to Taylor's family. For about four hours, a line stretched around Mount Hope United Church of Christ. Once inside, some sat for an hour and a half waiting to speak to the family.

"What I learned is that everybody has a story about Bobby," said Michael Bailey, Taylor's son-in-law. "It's been so wonderful to see that the people who Bobby loved loved him just as much."

Taylor, 69, was shot and killed late Dec. 6 or early Dec. 7 at Taylor's Service and Grocery, his store on NC 61 in Whitsett. Taylor had run the store for about 20 years.

"This person has taken away more than a husband, a father, a grandfather. They've taken away someone who meant a lot to the whole community," said Susan Gerringer, who is married to one of Taylor's cousins.

Taylor's country store was a gathering place — the only such place for miles around. His love for the community and other people drove him to run the store, family said.

His wife, Shirley, would open the store. After he finished work with his gravel and paving company, Bobby Lee Taylor would take her place.

In the morning, men would gather to drink coffee and play the card game "Setback." In the evening, teens would shoot pool.

"Everybody's lost. ... There's just nowhere to go," Leroy Allison said. Allison would go by the store just about every morning. When Bobby was around, they'd talk racing, farming or just about anything, except politics.

"Bobby never talked politics," Allison said.

But he wasn't afraid to give you his opinion on other matters, and he loved the sport of argument.

"He was a daddy to the whole community," said Lawrence Allison, Leroy Allison's brother. "I just don't know what the community's going to do."

Taylor's gruff exterior — the tobacco, straight talk and cussing — couldn't hide his heart of gold, people said. He was known for his generosity and friendliness.

"Once you knew him, you always knew him," Gerringer said.

Taylor trusted others, Gerringer said: "Make no mistake. He was not a gullible person, but he wanted to believe in the good in people."

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at 449-4610 or jamie.kennedy@news-record.com