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Dr. Joshua Tayloe was “unfailingly upbeat,” his daughter Elizabeth Pope and wife Carol described. It’s hard not to be when your job is to bring new life into the world. 

Tayloe, or “Dr. Josh” as he was known, was a beloved and well-respected OB/GYN in Washington. For nearly three decades, Tayloe delivered thousands of babies at Beaufort County Hospital (now ECU Health Beaufort) In Washington. Those babies weren’t just from Beaufort County. Soon-to-be mothers traveled from Swanquarter, Stumpy Point, and Hatteras Island to be treated by him, because he was one of the last obstetricians before the coast, Carol said. 

In a 2019 interview with the Daily News, Tayloe said he and colleague Dr. Jones would deliver at least 40 babies a month for 10 to 15 years, or about 480 babies per year. This means, he and Jones delivered between an estimated 4,800 to 7,200 babies within that time frame.

Tayloe had a knack for predicting the exact day and time a woman would deliver her baby. He developed this talent before ultrasound technology was used in eastern North Carolina. 

“You never bet against him. Not in anything really; he was surprisingly accurate,” Elizabeth said. “For that in particular, he would get most of them right.” 

When his prediction was incorrect, he would smile at the new parents then jokingly ask, “do you want me to put it back?” 

Starting in 1968 after graduation from medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill, he worked for 26 years until his retirement. On or off the clock, Tayloed cared for his patients. He would answer when they called his landline at home or would stop by their homes to check on their progress. 

His jovial demeanor and bedside manner were two reasons why many patients adored him, Carol and Elizabeth said. 

“He was very well-loved by the community,” Carol said. “He loved all of his patients. He’d come home and say something good happens every day.” 

“All everyone kept saying on the day of his service was, ‘I feel so lucky that I knew him…I feel so lucky he was my friend,’” Elizabeth said. She and her sisters felt lucky to have him as their father, she added. 

“He was the perfect person to be a father to all women,” she continued.   

At home, Tayloe and Carol had six daughters to raise and even female pets to tend to. Carol, joking, likened homelife to being in a sorority. Tayloe was neither intimidated or scared by a house full of women. When Tayloe was just eight years old, his father died; therefore, he was raised by his mother and relatives. 

 

Carol believes Tayloe’s happy disposition and kind nature was the result of his upbringing. He was surrounded by family and cousins like pediatrician “Dr. Dave” Tayloe IV, on Short Drive in Washington. “They all lived sort of together and took care of each other and it was always positive,” she said. 

 

Tayloe came from a long line of doctors in Washington dating back to 1849. Ten generations of Tayloes have cared for Washington citizens and patients in surrounding areas as either surgeons, pediatricians, obstetricians or orthopedists. 

 

Tayloe was the last physician in his family who had a practice in Washington. His daughter, Dr. Meghan Burnside, is a veterinarian and his grandson, Dr. Joshua Keais Pope, is an emergency room and hospice physician in Greenville, SC.   

 

On November 28, 2024, Tayloe, surrounded by family, passed away in his childhood home on the Pamlico River. Three days prior, he celebrated his 90th birthday. A memorial service was held two days later at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of which he and Carol are members. 

 

At the service, Joshua Keais Pope spoke, sharing, “I remember being in his OB/GYN office as a kid. His gentle, compassionate, genuine, silly and fun bedside manner is what initially inspired me to become a doctor and laid the foundation for how I practice medicine today…He was so full of love and laughter and warmth, but it was his silliness, love and adventurous spirit that made him such a wonderful grandfather. We are going to miss him and his humor dearly, but we are glad he lived and loved so fully, and we will carry him and his Tayloe goofiness with us always…”