Lois Jean Taylor

Lois Jean (Sellers) Taylor passed away on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. She was born June 11, 1929 in Toledo to Ellsworth & Cecelia (Keil) Sellers. She was raised in Toledo with 4 sisters (Eleanor, June, Dora and Phyllis) and 1 brother (Robert). Her childhood was dominated by the Great Depression and WWII. After meeting at the roller skating rink, on June 10, 1950 she married Fred J. Taylor. The first few years of marriage were spent living on Edgewater Drive in Point Place. Both of their sons, Jim & Tom, were born during this time. As the family grew, they found a home on Capistrano in West Toledo. The family enjoyed the years in West Toledo, but after the golf bug got to both Fred & Lois they found their dream home in 1985 right on Brandywine Golf Course near Maumee. They enjoyed the next 30 years living their dream. For Lois, playing golf was great, but being a grandma was her calling. After Fred’s death in 2014, her son Tom, moved in with her so she could stay in her own home. This situation does not work for everyone but add in early stages of Alzheimer’s with a healthy dose of hearing loss (don’t try to tell her) and you are an active participant of a free comedy show. Mom’s conversations would take some great detours and I decided early on to just enjoy the ride. One evening the phone rang at home and Mom picked up it up and said “hello”. But no one was responding, and the phone kept ringing. After a couple more “hellos” and rings, I quietly handed the actual phone to her. She had picked up the TV remote by mistake. In her defense, both items were black and close in size. She enjoyed her evening cocktail, always a glass of white zin. Occasionally a 2nd or 3rd glass was called for, and this was enjoyed guiltfree because her wine was alcohol free. At least that was her story. It seems years ago she was grocery shopping on a Sunday morning and as the clerk rang up the groceries, a bottle of wine was scanned. When the clerk and young manager inspect the bottle and find no reference to alcohol content, they allow the purchase. BOOM, from then on, their word became gospel. No harm, no foul right? About her name Lois, or was it, Louise? While tending to some legal paperwork back in 2014, we came across her original birth certificate. Much to our surprise, the name was spelled “Louise”. Going by Lois and having all other legal documents filled out as Lois left us with lots of questions. We will never know the true intentions of her parents, but we quickly filed the paperwork to have her legal name changed to Lois, to avoid future problems. Mom had some of the best neighbors you could ask for and during the summer Sally, Marlene and Mom would convene their evening meetings (with cocktails) on the back deck to keep each other up to speed on all the current events. A few years ago, we decided to invite a couple of ladies from church along for one of our Sunday drives. They jumped at the idea and the “Miss Daisies” road tripping adventures were born. The stories just kept improving, starting with the “seatbelt incident.” The 3 of them had gone out to lunch and upon arriving back at Nancy’s, they could not get Mom’s seatbelt off her. As they struggled with it, the belt kept getting tighter & tighter across Lois. Finally, they decided to call the fire dept. Their hope that a couple of firemen would arrive quietly in a car were quickly dashed when they heard a full-size fire truck coming down the street. The fireman quickly hit the button to release the belt. Mom, no longer feeling like a pressed flower in an oversize book, took a deep breath and said, “thank you”. They all enjoyed the simple joys of being together and traveling all around the area just seeing different things. Nancy and ML brought so much fun and conversation into Mom’s life and I could see the pure enjoyment all 3 got out of simply traveling together. Some of the many trips found them enjoying great weather and scenery at Lakeside, eagle watching along Route 2 or enjoying wonderful food in Middlebury, IN. But their trip to see the elegant Fisher Building in Detroit during the Christmas season will always be a favorite. We did not miss many Sunday drives, until COVID. Finally, in February 2019 she moved to assisted living at Lakes of Sylvania. Like most, she did not agree with this, but she quickly became one of the favorites with the staff and she appreciated everything they did to help her. She could always to seen in the hallways, making sure things were running smoothly. 55 weeks of Covid lockdown was tough, but she made it and enjoyed her remaining time. Survived by her son Tom, grandkids, Shelley (Doug) Bogerson, Tami Taylor, Nick (Gretchen) Taylor, Nate (Lisa) Taylor & Brittany (Scott) Schulze and 18 great-grandchildren. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, August 21, 2021, at Sylvania United Church of Christ, 7240 Erie Street, Sylvania, OH 43560 and conclude with funeral services at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park.