HAP TAYLOR

A military vehicle makes it way through a mountainous region of the Jiangsu province, 1946

 By 1945, the Qing dynasty had collapsed and China had experienced communist revolution, civil war and global conflagration. War between the nationalists and Communists would resume in 1946, and a final image of a military truck, tiny against the rolling hills, provides a portent of the strife to come.

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  Harriett 'Hap' Taylor 

Nov 10, 1930 - Nov 2, 2020 

She died on Nov 2nd a few days before her 90th birthday Nov 10, 2020.

Hap was born in China where her parents were missionaries. She fondly remembered the Chinese Nursemaid who cared for her when she was young and taught her to speak Chinese. When the Chinese Communists took over the government after 1949 religion was suppressed. Hap's father was imprisoned and the family was expelled.  When they left China the family probably returned to Massachusetts and her father rejoined them after his release. Hap later graduated from Mount Holyoke College, a liberal arts women's college in Hadley, Massachusetts. 

Hap came to Florida more than 50 years ago to work as a volunteer for AmeriCorps VISTA. Volunteers In Service To America was the brainchild of President Kennedy and initiated by President Johnson in the effort to alleviate poverty in America. Hap became involved with obtaining services for migrant workers. She was active in providing medical care for migrants by helping to found  ACORN Clinic in Brooker, FL. In addition she did substitute teaching.

During the time that I knew Hap she was active in the Meeting. She liked to participate in everything that was going on. She was a vital part of the Bible Study group when Larry was leading it. When she learned of our interest in Blake, she found among the books she had been saving a small copy of Blake's Songs of Innocence which she gave to us.  

Most of us would agree that Hap Taylor liked being independent. That's why she clung so tenaciously to living in a dilapidated trailer when we would have liked for her to be nearer the Meetinghouse. Walter and Mona did their best to make the trailer more livable by repairing, rewiring and making what improvements that they could, but they couldn't convince Hap that she should get rid of the accumulation of clutter which she treasured. Hap was far away from her family so the meeting was the family who loved and supported her.

In an email from Hap's niece we read of Hap's last year when she resided in Cross City Nursing Home: "I’ve been relieved to know that, in this last year, she’s been comfortable, well fed, and surrounded by kind faces.  She was up and in her wheel chair pretty much every day until her last decline at the end of October.  The staff was fond of her, and laughed about the fact that, even though she was very hard of hearing of late, she seemed to be able to correct people’s grammar.  And they all heard her stories of China.  Her spirit shone through to the end." 

Writing this post depended on memories of Hap from various people who knew her. If you remember an incident or story from Hap's life please leave a comment on the post or send an email to eachone@earthlink.net.