Taylor Fiberglass

This history is obtained from and used with permission of the authors of Diagonal, Iowa -- Centennial History, 1888-1988

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Taylor Fiberglass

            In 1960, Skyline Plastics started a fiberglass plant in Diagonal, locating in the O.J. Snodgrass building and expanding to the Johnston Ford Garage building. They started making fallout shelters that were shipped to Texas. E.M. Watson and Marvin Sobotka were their associates. They employed two shifts at this time.

            When the franchise operator was killed in a plane crash, the Taylor firm purchased the master molds from the estate for burial vaults.

            The company has had the same staff and management during these years with Jack Taylor as president, Dixie Taylor as secretary/treasurer, and Jay Snyder as vice-president.



            Cemetery setups and sealing of vaults is offered in southwest Iowa and northern Missouri along with vault distribution to funeral directors and vault dealers in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Illinois.

            In addition to making burial vaults, the company does repair work with fiberglass, such as hoppers on railroad cars, baptismal tanks, storage tanks, farm equipment, and semi-trailers.

            The Taylor office and workshop is located on Broadway in Diagonal on the southwest corner of the intersection with Third Street.