03/23/2007
Mary Frances (Reed) Taylor
Birth: 21 July 1920 – Marion County
Death: 23 Mar 2007 – Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas
Spouse: Floyd Taylor
Father: James Oscar Reed
Mother: Ollie Maud Stroud
Mary Frances Taylor died peacefully on March 23, 2007 at Midland Hospice Care where she had resided for six days.
The elder of two daughters of James O. Reed and Ollie M. Stroud Reed, Fran was born Mary Frances Reed on July 21, 1920 on a farm eight miles southeast of Knoxville, Iowa that had been homesteaded by her maternal grandfather following the Civil War.
Along with her parents and sister, she was featured in a 1937 Life Magazine story about depression era farming photographed by her cousin, Time-Life photographer Hart Preston.
Fran was a 1938 graduate of Knoxville High School and received a bachelor's degree in English from Central College, Pella, Iowa in 1942 where she met Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.
Following graduation, she taught English and business courses at Boone and Winterset, Iowa high schools before becoming a job placement officer at the American Institute of Business in Des Moines in 1944.
After a while she realized the jobs she was finding for others supporting the war effort were more interesting than the job she had, so she placed herself in an administrative position at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) and moved to Dayton, Ohio where she was stationed until October, 1945.
Following World War II, Fran taught at Mitchellville, Iowa High School before becoming executive secretary to the senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa in 1946.
It was there she met another member of the church's young singles group, Floyd V. Taylor. They were married on November 12, 1948 at the church and immediately moved to Topeka where Floyd had taken a job as Kansas claims manager for Iowa Home Mutual Insurance Company.
Fran taught at Topeka's Clark's School of Business during the 1950s, was a substitute teacher at Topeka West High School in the 1960s, and worked at Taylor and Company, Inc. as well as managed two family-owned apartment buildings in the 1970s.
She was an active community volunteer, serving in numerous capacities with First United Methodist Church, the American Association of University Women, and the Opti-Mrs. auxiliary of the Downtown Optimist Club. She enjoyed music and played the piano and the organ. Most importantly, though, she was a devoted and supportive wife, mother, and grandmother.
She encouraged, more accurately she demanded, that each of her four children learn to play the piano as well as at least one additional musical instrument. Through more than 50 years of regular visitation of the elderly in the Topeka community, she instilled in her children and grandchildren the importance of service to others.
Fran was very loyal, obsessive (about spelling and grammar), and strong-willed, but also very caring, empathetic, and forgiving. In addition to her husband of more than 58 years, Fran is survived by two sons, Dennis Taylor (Karen) and Ron Taylor, both of Topeka, and two daughters, Nancy Taylor, Topeka, and Kathy Ford (Mike), Abilene.
She is also survived by five grandchildren, Brian Taylor, Los Angeles, California, Allison Taylor, Topeka, Courtney Ford, Wichita, and Melissa Ford and Kinsey Ford, Abilene. A grandson, Joshua J. Wagner preceded her in death in 2000.
Fran is also survived by her sister, Ruth I. Statzell, Denver, Colorado, two nephews, James D. Statzell, Colima, Michigan and Thomas R. Statzell, Evergreen, Colorado as well as two first cousins, Hart Preston, Santa Monica, California and Wilma Van Dyck, Salt Lake City, Utah. Fran was cremated.
A memorial service celebrating Fran's life will be held in the Klasse Memorial Chapel of First United Methodist Church at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, 2007. A reception in the church's Celebration Room will follow the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church, 600 S.W. Harrison, Topeka, 66603 or Midland Hospice Care, 200 S.W. Frazier Circle, Topeka, 66606. Fran Taylor
Published in Topeka Capital-Journal on Mar. 25, 2007