Betty Jane Taylor

Betty Jane Taylor, nearly 94, passed away Monday night, March 3, at the Milford Iowa Nursing Center. She was born March 18, 1920, in Zanesville Ohio, to Jay Hamilton and Vaughn A. (Williams) Sims. She grew to be the spitting image of her Dad and the apple of his eye. She was a small woman with a large presence, a cute grin and devilish sense of humor. She played tennis, badminton and bowled; loved summer, water and sunshine; and exercised and walked until she was 84. She was a survivor of all things large and small. She loved life, Ed, her kids, grandkids and grand-dogs. She was truly young at heart. Betty graduated from Lash High School in 1938. On January 12, 1940, Betty married Charles Edwin (Ed) Taylor. They loved to dance and saved money to travel with their siblings and their wives and husbands to live Les Brown and Glen Miller concerts. Son, Jeffrey Sims Taylor, was born June 1, 1942. Ed and his brother, Bob, and Betty's brother Kenny, all were deployed in World War II: Ed to the Philippines; Bob the Ardennes Forest; and Kenny aboard ship in the Atlantic. Ed and Betty's daughter was born September 17, 1948 in Canton, Ohio. Betty was a homemaker when the kids were young, then worked in retail personnel management. She learned computer data management in the sixties and retired as a bank customer service representative in 1985. Betty and Ed followed their hearts and moved to Denver, Colorado in 1973, to live near the Rocky Mountains and Jeff's family. They explored the Rockies, traveled to visit their kids, made new Colorado friends and found "surrogate kids and grandkids"; especially Dick and Jacque Kane and Patricia Michael and her sons. All their friends helped make Colorado their new home. Ed passed away suddenly May 20, 1990. Betty remained in Colorado until February 28, 1999 and then moved East to be closer to her children. She lived near her daughter in an independent living apartment in Kensington Park, Maryland. In 2006, Betty and Lynne moved to the Iowa Lakes Region, where she resided at Well-Life in Spirit Lake and later at the Milford Care Center. The family gratefully thanks Wel-Life and Milford Care Centers for years of kind and supportive care, and Iowa Hospice for gentle caring for Betty during her last days. Betty was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Juanita and husband Dick; brother Kenneth and wife Virginia R.; and nephew-in-law Jim Dale. She was also preceded in death by her dog Blue, grand-dogs Hagar, Mollie and Farley, great grand-dog Grizzy, and grand-cats Cassidy, Tort, and Toby. Betty is survived by son Jeff and wife Jo of Greensboro North Carolina, and daughter Lynne of The Villages, Florida; granddaughters Tonya Ann Brandenburg and husband Brien, Tricia LeAnn Bouras and husband Pete, and great-granddaughters Taylor Bouras, Annalyse Brandenburg, Riley Bouras and Raylynne Brandenburg, all of Greensboro. She is also survived by niece Susie Dale of Zanesville, Ohio and daughter Alexandra Dale of Virginia; nephew Michael S. Sims and wife Alta of Zanesville, Ohio and daughter Ann; and nephew Rick Taylor and wife Anne and sons Matthew and Andrew of Columbus, Ohio. A memorial service will be held Sunday, June 29, 2014, 2:00P.M. at the Schuchert Funeral Home. Internment for both Betty and Ed will be at Lakeview Cemetery in Spirit Lake.

Betty Jane Taylor

March 18, 1920 - March 3, 2014