A weekend accident claimed the life of Jefferson County Board of Education member Dean Taylor, 35.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Taylor was traveling alone in his SUV on Mt. Olive Road near Buckshort Bridge when the vehicle left the road, traveled down an embankment and struck a tree.

The accident was discovered by a passing car at approximately 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene.

No other vehicle was involved, according to the sheriff’s office.

Taylor was the vice president of sales and marketing at Webb Payroll and a current member and former president of the board of education, in addition to holding positions on various boards and committees throughout the area.

On Monday, the Gardendale and Warrior city councils honored Taylor in their meetings and many council members shared their memories of Taylor and condolences for his family.

In Fultondale, where Taylor devoted much of his time, serving on the Fultondale Chamber of Commerce, Arts Council and other civic organizations, Mayor Jim Lowery said he would miss Taylor.

“Dean was involved with a lot of different things and he always went above and beyond to help the people around him,” Lowery said. “He loved helping people, whether it was a custodian at a school, a teacher, a student, a parent or just someone in the community, he thrived on getting involved and helping them.”

Lowery also said he and his staff had come to rely on Taylor for help with various things not related to his service to the city. He called Taylor a “problem solver.”

“He liked for you to tell him what issues you had because he enjoyed helping you solve it,” Lowery remembers.

Lowery, who retired from the education system, said he had never seen a board member as involved as Taylor, pointing to the fact that Taylor made a point to visit every school in the system in his first six months in office.

Lowery said he felt like Taylor would have continued to work to improve education for the students in the county, as well as working toward better school conditions and helping educators in the system.

“It’s just a shame his time couldn’t have been longer,” Lowery continued. “He would have accomplished so much, because he had already accomplished so much.”

The effects of Taylor’s loss are already being felt but Lowery said it will continue to be hard for him.

“I’m really going to miss Dean, I already do,” he said.

Visitation for Taylor was March 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with funeral services at 2 p.m. at The New Gardendale Funeral Home. Burial followed at Oakwood Memorial Gardens.