Taylor Polk

ARITON…Mr. Taylor Polk, a resident of Ariton, died late Friday evening, February 21, 2025, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham. He was 31.

 Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Thursday, February 27, 2025, in the Ariton High School Gymnasium with Reverend Dave Walsh, Reverend Jason Howell, and Reverend Scott Stevens officiating. Burial will follow in Pea River Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark is in charge of arrangements. The family will receive friends from 4:30 until 7:30 P.M. Wednesday at the funeral home.

 Memorial contributions may be made to Ariton High School Athletics in memory of Taylor, PO Box 750, Ariton, Alabama 36311.

 Taylor was born on September 28, 1993, and was a native of Demopolis, Alabama. He was a 2012 Graduate of Demopolis High School where he was a member of the football team that won a State Championship in 2009. Following high school, he played football at Troy University as a long snapper under Coach Blakeney and Coach Brown. He received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Troy University in Special Education. Taylor began his teaching career at Charles Henderson High School, where he coached wrestling, baseball, and football along with being a special education teacher. He was currently a special education teacher, football, basketball, and baseball coach at Ariton High School. Taylor was coaching at Ariton in 2023 and 2024 when they won the State Championship in Baseball. His love for special education was evident to all that knew him at school and away from school. 

 Surviving relatives include his wife, Katie Knox, Ariton; son, Judge Polk; parents, Eddie and Stephanie Catt Polk, Demopolis, Alabama; grandparents, Jim and Dianne McKenzie Catt, Oxford, Mississippi; sisters, Ashley Carroll (Sam), Tennile, Allison Polk, Boca Raton, Florida, and Abby Polk, Mobile, Alabama; brother, Allen Tucker, Troy; aunts and uncles, Tracy Gho (Curtis), Jason Catt (Anna), and Marsha Miller (David); nephew, Knox Carroll; relatives from the Knox family, father-in-law and mother-in-law, Bill and Maria McKnight Knox, Ariton; grandmother-in-law, Mary Ann McKnight, Ariton; sister-in-law, Madison Knox, Ariton; numerous cousins and friends. 

 Serving as active pallbearers will be Allen Tucker, Sam Carroll, William Stewart, Trey Oates, Bob Pickett, Brett Goodson, Brandon Silvers, and Tom Causey. Honorary pallbearers will be Ariton High School Football and Baseball Coaching Staff and Teams.