DOVER-FOXCROFT – Helen Elizabeth Taylor, 80, wife of the late Dr. Paul D. Taylor, died Dec. 21, 2006, with her family at her side at a local nursing home, from complications of lymphoma. Helen was born May 1, 1926, in Wilton, to Lauriston Franklin Noyes and Mertie Mercedes Stowe Noyes. As an infant she moved with her parents and older brother, Leroy C., to Putnam, Conn. Helen attended kindergarten through high school in Naugatuck, Conn., where her father taught physics and coached basketball. She then attended the University of Maine – Orono, graduating cum laude in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in home economics. After graduation, a job for the U.S. Extension Service took Helen to Dover-Foxcroft, where she met and married Dr. Paul D. Taylor. They raised three children, Jeffrey M. Taylor of Annandale, Va., Susan N. Graham of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Michael F. Taylor of Harvard, Mass. The family enjoyed skiing at Squaw Mountain and summers on Sebec Lake. Helen was a wonderful mother, an accomplished master’s level skier, a devoted member of the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, and an active supporter of the Piscataquis Regional YMCA. She was particularly passionate about her work for the YMCA, which she and Paul believed was a way to give back to the community which had given so much to them. She leaves behind a brother, Leroy Noyes of Nashua, N.H.; three children, seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. She asked to let you all know how much she loved you. A memorial service will be conducted 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, at Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church with the Rev. Linda Hatch and Helen’s nephew, the Rev. Bruce Prestwood-Taylor officiating. She hoped that anyone who wished to remember her would do so with a memorial contribution to the Piscataquis Regional YMCA, 48 Park St., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426. Arrangements are in the care of the Lary Funeral Home, Dover-Foxcroft.
HELEN N. TAYLOR
