Obituary of Violet Edna Taylor

IN MEMORY OF VIOLET EDNA TAYLOR Violet E. Taylor was born to her proud parents of Gustav ("Gus") Mickeleit and Katherine "Doering" Mickeleit ("Katie") on June 30, 1920 in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was preceded by her sister of 2 years Florence "Flo," and succeeded by her brother of 5 years, Elmer, all of whom have already gone to their Lord and Maker in Heaven. Her loving husband of over 66 years, Ernest P. Taylor ("Ernie"), died October 13, 2006. Violet is succeeded by her eldest son Jim and his wife Carolyn, her younger son Michael and his wife Debbie, her 7 grandchildren - Jason, Nathan, Greg, Courtney, Aimee, Sarah and Mark - plus 4 great-grandchildren - Presley, Jackson, Zachary and Jaylyn. She died peacefully in her room in bed at approximately 8:30 PM on Saturday July 14, 2012 with her son Michael at her side. We are all thankful that she passed quickly and without pain. We are most thankful she reached her ultimate goal to be in Heaven with her Lord Jesus, as well as her loved-ones here on earth Ernie, Gus, Katie, Flo, Elmer and all the rest of her loving family and many friends who have also moved on to this better place. When Violet was about 2, her mother Katie and father Gus, plus her grandparents and the rest of the Doering family, sold their farms and moved from Saskatchewan to Portland, Oregon due to severe economic and climatic conditions that made it impossible to live where she was born. The very large family bought a large piece of property in the Northeast part of Portland, built numerous homes for the various families, and lived there as family, neighbors and friends for decades. Violet, "Vi", Grandma, Aunt Vi and my favorite "Mom" grew up in this Northeast neighborhood of Portland. She, her sister Flo and eventually her brother Elmer went to the local grade school and middle school and eventually Mom attended Jefferson High School, where she graduated in 1938. With the larger family all living nearby for the most part for so many years, the brothers, sisters and cousins all became best of friends. It was a great way for all to grow up and flourish with tremendous support from grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles all living in a tight knit neighborhood environment. This created close family ties for all of them which have lasted throughout Mom's life and still to this day. After graduating from high school having lived in Portland for most of her life and with jobs scarce at the time, Mom moved to live with her sister Flo and her new husband Don Rotto, where they lived in Marshfield, OR (Now Coos Bay). Mom got a job in the office of a local lumber company in Port Orford, OR, which is where she eventually met Ernie Taylor. They started dating, courting more seriously and then fell in love. On February 24, 1940 they were married at Peace Lutheran Congregational Church in Portland whereupon Violet Mickeleit became Violet Taylor. Both sets of parents attended this special event as well as Flo, Don and much of the family. Not long thereafter World War II broke out, of course. Due to prior medical conditions Ernie was not able to join the military, nor any branch after a number of attempts. So with his civil and logging engineering degree from Oregon State, Dad found a job working for Kaiser Engineering designing aircraft carriers and troop ships for the War Department. They lived in a hotel for a few months in New York City and later were transferred back to the San Francisco area closer to where the ships were being built. After some time they met another couple their age named "Bernie and Elise" they became very close friends and eventually rented a swanky home in Atherton, CA just north of Palo Alto. Swimming pool, tennis court, butler and maids quarters; the whole bit. Lots of us heard stories of the many fun parties and events from those days. When the war ended Mom and Dad returned to Portland. Dad returned to the forest products business west of McMinnville. They lived on the west side of Portland near Barber Boulevard. Jim was born in Portland in December 1945. Due to the long commute each day a couple of years later they moved to McMinnville to be closer to Dad's work. I remember they lived in three homes while there, the last one a very nice home they owned near what was then Cook Elementary School. Brother Mike was born in January 1952. Our family stayed in McMinnville until 1959 when we moved to Newport due to a change in Dad's employer. The family lived in Newport until 1963 when we moved to Eureka, California on the north coast. The family stayed in Eureka until 1965 when we moved to Ukiah, CA again due to a change in Dad's company. Jim had already started college in 1964. Then in early 1967, Mom, Dad and Mike moved to John Day, Oregon. They rented for a while and then built a very nice home up on a hillside overlooking a vast mountain range and the city below. Mike went off to college in 1970. Mom and Dad stayed in John Day for a while after Dad retired. Mom and Dad then moved back to Portland in 1981 to be closer to family, doctors, etc. Mom and Dad rented a nice townhouse on Mitchell Ct. on the west side. They lived there until August 2006 when they moved to Huntington Terrace Assisted Living in Gresham. Dad passed away shortly thereafter on October 13, 2006. Mom continued to live in the same apartment at Huntington Terrace until she passed away the evening of July 14, 2012. Mom and Dad lived in a number of homes over their married life. Mom worked outside of the home a number of times over these years in office or retail settings. But for the most part she was a homemaker, and a very good one! All the homes we lived in were comfortable, inviting, and nice places for the family, relatives or friends to be. The homes were clean and neat but "lived in". Mom was a great cook and loved foods of all kinds. Gus was a butcher for Swift & Co. in Portland and her mom Katie was a baker. So Mom learned to cook early in life. She and we were all fortunate to live in Oregon and northern California with an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits and all sorts of great food. We were always well-nourished, with clean clothes, a clean, comfortable home and with a loving and caring person always there to take care of us. Mom was there for Mike and me when we came home from school. If we had sports or other events she was always there for us, as was Dad most of the time. Mom became involved with the local PTA organizations where we lived, she was a Den Mother when we were in Cub Scouts and involved in many other ways with her sons as they were growing up as was our father. In my opinion she was an ideal mother! She loved us all very much and it was exhibited daily in actions not just words. She also cared deeply and would do anything for Gus, Katie, Dad, Flo, Elmer, Don, all her aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews and her many friends as well. Mom was a happy and positive person throughout her life, even at the end, when she was not feeling well. She was always encouraging and willing to help whenever possible. She took care of Dad, her Mom at times and other relatives during her life. She was genuinely a "GIVING" person. Mom had a number of hobbies and passions. She was very social - a "people" person. She loved music and loved to dance. She loved to get together with family or with friends for meals and to have parties. Some of the parties would go all night with dancing and having a great time together. She liked to host parties as well. She was good at entertaining and making people feel comfortable and happy. Mom enjoyed traveling, seeing new places and people. She and Dad went on a number of trips after they retired which she thoroughly enjoyed. Some were trips they went on by themselves – mostly cruises. And some were with relatives. She thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Dad and Mom also travelled for business reasons prior to retirement and she enjoyed those events as well. Throughout her life she loved to play cards and games of all sorts. With family, with friends, with most anyone. And all sorts of card games depending upon who she was playing with. She also liked all sorts of board games, dominos, etc. In fact there probably wasn't a game she didn't like. This was true to the ending days of her life with us. She was also very competitive. Mom loved to be outdoors as much as possible. Even bad weather did not stop her from going outdoors until very late in life. In the nice weather she liked to garden and be outdoors even at night. She loved the warmer weather when living in places like Ukiah and John Day where she was out as much as possible. But there were a couple of exceptions. She did not like the damp cold weather while living at the coast (Newport & Eureka), nor did she care for the cold east winds. Speaking about the outdoors another hobby she learned at a young age was fishing. She loved to fish. At the ocean on the rocks especially, or on docks or jetties; sometimes on a boat in the ocean, in the rivers along the Oregon coast; in lakes in small boats and in the streams and small lakes of eastern Oregon. So fishing was a life-long hobby almost as important to her as cards and games. And she loved to dig for clams at the ocean. She liked fish and seafood of all kinds. So this was not just for sport but for dinner too. And she loved to play golf. She got pretty good at it over the years. She liked to watch golf on TV especially in her later years when she could no longer play. I think the reason she loved to play golf so much was it allowed her to be outdoors and with people – some recurring themes here? Mom took up painting mid-way through her life. She first painted a little while living in northern California and then more profusely when living in John Day, at their townhouse on Mitchell in Portland and even some at Huntington Terrace after Ernie passed away. Most of her paintings were oils, but some acrylics. While she tried all sorts of subject matter, true to another of her passions, a vast majority of her paintings were outdoor scenes. She sold a lot of paintings so she was very good – many of us are fortunate to have some of her works in our homes. Although not as involved in this as her sister Flo, Mom also did a number of ceramic pieces over the years. She was involved with all sorts of craft projects at Huntington Terrace. So she was blessed with considerable artistic talents also. Mom loved to read. She liked books of all types – she was an avid reader throughout her life – all the way up to her last days with us here on earth. As a Christian she read the Bible many times over her life. In conclusion Violet Taylor, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Vi or just Vi, however you would address her, was a well-rounded, positive and caring person. She loved her family deeply and friends as well, of which there were many. She was a positive influence on so many people she came into contact with over the 92 wonderful years she was with us. Her reward here is that she was loved by all who came in contact with her. She will truly be missed by all of us. Nevertheless we will cherish our memories of her and of the times we had with her. Her giving and happy nature and positive approach to life will help and encourage all of us over the years ahead if we just remember how she treated each of us. She did live a wonderful life of 92 years full of many blessings. Finally we can all take peace in knowing she attained her ultimate, most important goal of going to Heaven and being with her Lord Jesus, her beloved family and friends gone before her including her loving husband Ernie who is now with her in eternity. From Her Loving Sons Jim and Mike Service Information