Leola Taylor
courtesy photo
Leola Taylor
RONAN — Leola Carol Stipe Taylor, 85, passed away peacefully on July 5, 2018, at the Tri-Cities Retirement Inn in Pasco, Washington. Leola was born to Paul B. Stipe and Bonnie F. Coleman Stipe on July 22, 1932, in Saint Ignatius.
She grew up in Moiese Valley on the Stipe Family farm with her seven sisters and one brother.
In 1943, at the age of eleven, God was doing a work in her young heart so she let this be known in a Sunday morning fellowship meeting in the family home while Arthur Pickess was present. She held an undying faith and trusted in God throughout her entire life.
She moved to Spokane, Washington, living and working with her sisters, Alma and Alice in 1950.
Leola married Wallace W. Taylor on Dec. 6, 1950, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Leola and Wally lived in Spokane Valley in the areas of Dishman, Millwood, and then Otis Orchards where they raised their five children on a former 12-acre apple orchard.
Leola loved her home and being a homemaker, lovingly caring for her children. She worked hard keeping up the home and yard. She had a beautiful rose garden that she lovingly cared for and a large garden that she enjoyed working in and used to feed the family. Yearly canning and baking were a large part of her young family life. She also provided a lot of support to her children, even allowing them to have many various pets. She supported her husband in his efforts, as he built their business, which often required him to be away from home.
Her piano was a real friend as she loved the joy it brought her as she played hymns and music. She also enjoyed playing harmonica and the accordion. After a trip with her family to Hawaii, she fell in love with Hawaiian music. She had a beautiful voice and used it to lead the meeting hymns for years. The color pink was always, by far, her favorite.
She loved a clean home and often opened the windows to let some fresh air in. She taught her children how to love, work hard, play often and live a clean, organized life. Most of all, she truly shared unconditional love with her children and family.
For a short period of time she worked in a gift shop in Spokane and definitely enjoyed it. She did home health care work for about twenty years in Portland and Seattle. She then returned to live in Spokane in 2005 until her recent move to Pasco, Washington, in 2017.
Leola is preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Corrine Kamp, Alma Davison, and Alice Trevithick; her brother, Chuck Stipe; and her husband, Wally Taylor.
She is survived by her sisters, Esther Davison, Mary Douma, Laura Dykstra and Barbara Bales; her children, Norman (Delores) Taylor of Auburn, Washington, Beverly (Don) McAdow of Salmon, Idaho, Larry Taylor of Phoenix, Arizona, Sue (Dwight) Arnoldus of Pasco, Washington, and Loretta Alake of Renton, Washington. She has six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 28, at the Terrace Lake Community Church, 35663 Terrace Lake Road East in Ronan. A burial service will follow at the Ronan Cemetery, 46727 North Foothills Drive. Memories and condolences may be sent to the family at: www.shriderthompson.com.
Arrangements are under the direction of Shrider–Thompson Funeral Home.
