Nancy Jane Taylor

January 11, 1940; Joliet, IL --- December 27, 2024; Charlton, MA

Nancy Jane, born as 1940 dawned, was the long awaited and much-loved blue-eyed, blonde-haired daughter of Mattie Laura (Hare) and Fritz Fredrickson. Raised in Joliet, Illinois, she graduated from Joliet Township High School in the class of 1958 and went on to attend Joliet Junior College and graduate from Kalamazoo College in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Her parents were proud that she was the first in her family to achieve a college degree.

While Nancy was growing up, she and her parents were active members of First Baptist Church of Joliet, where Nancy committed herself to life as a Christian. Nancy was honored to serve as the president of the Illinois Baptist Youth Fellowship, delaying her move to Kalamazoo College by one year to complete her commitment. It was also at this church she met the young Dennis Taylor, who would become the love of her life and her dedicated husband of 62 years. They were married at the First Baptist Church on September 2, 1962.

Nancy and Dennis started their lives together in Huntsville, Alabama, where their son Scott Alan was born in 1964. Following opportunities for young professional families in the exciting space program, they moved to Cocoa, Florida in 1965, for Dennis to pursue a career with the Boeing Company at Kennedy Space Center. When they arrived in Brevard County, Nancy and her family found a church home at First Baptist Church of Cocoa, where they were active members for more than 50 years. In 1967, they moved to Merritt Island, Florida and welcomed their daughter Valerie Jane.

In her church life, Nancy served as Sunday School teacher; Vacation Bible School teacher and director; handbell, church choir, and vocal ensemble member; Women’s Missionary Union member; youth group chaperone and volunteer; knitting and crochet circle member; church clerk; and wedding coordinator. In addition to her many areas of service, Nancy could be found enjoying fellowship and coordinating the church’s Wednesday night family suppers, attending Wednesday prayer meetings, and joining Sunday morning and evening worship services each week. You could count on her to be one of the last ones departing the sanctuary chatting with friends as the usher on duty turned off the lights and the children waited in the car.

Nancy was an active volunteer in the community and shared her talents for many years as a leader with the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Girl Scouts; school clinic volunteer; and board of elections poll worker and precinct captain. In addition, Nancy joined Dennis as a volunteer helping construct the Brevard Zoo. One of her largest volunteer commitments was to train and serve with Dennis as disaster relief workers with the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief Organization. She worked in the feeding unit of the group and prepared thousands of meals for those affected by the disasters and volunteer aid workers serving in disaster zones across the state of Florida and beyond. This often included closing up their home and living in temporary shelters or making their home in churches that were serving as command centers for disaster relief efforts. Millions of people were directly or indirectly affected by this work.

Throughout her life, Nancy was an avid and gifted seamstress. As early as childhood she designed, cut, constructed, sewed, and finished clothing and items that she and her family members enjoyed wearing and using. This included simple things like dish towels, satin trimmed baby blankets, and tote bags, but it also included intricate works of art. Some of the most special items included ruffled and sequined prom and sorority dance dresses; her and her daughter’s wedding gowns; and precious Easter and Christmas dresses and suits for her children and grandchildren. Additionally, Nancy ran “TaylorMade Dressmaking,” her own seamstress and tailoring business in which she made hundreds of custom clothing items for clients over a 35-year career. She found great joy in this creative outlet and lit up when sharing a completed project with its recipient.

Her greatest joy was being with her family; with Dennis, her children and grandchildren. This meant many days chauffeuring to piano lessons, speech contests, and remote fishing holes; cheering at track and cross country meets; decorating and eating slice and bake cookies; teaching a little one to sew; going to restaurants for Taco Tuesday or a special birthday meal; taking a trip to see Barney, Winnie-the-Pooh, or Blue at a theme park or concert; braving water slides at Blizzard Beach; traveling to so many graduation ceremonies; or upending her life for days or weeks when a health crisis meant a child or grandchild needed her or her and Dennis to “take care” of them for a while. Her son Scott Alan married Andrea Lee in 1993, and they welcomed daughters Alyssa Wyndham in 1996 and Kara Fredrickson in 1998. Kara married Kyle Jacobs in 2020. Her daughter Valerie Jane married Douglas Downs in 1988, and they welcomed daughter Taylor Jane in 1993 and son Garrett Douglas in 1997. Garrett married Amy Sullivan in 2022; and Taylor will marry Jacob Willis in 2025.

In January 2020, Nancy and Dennis moved to The Overlook in Charlton, Massachusetts to be near family members who had relocated from Florida to New England. At The Overlook she enjoyed life free of the burdens of homeownership in a hurricane zone; made many friends; volunteered folding napkins and crafting; explored on day trips, especially the trips that included a stop for ice cream; sang joyfully in The Overlook Chorus; and spent as much time as possible with family members in nearby Rhode Island and Connecticut, never missing an event that included a lobster roll. It was at The Overlook in Charlton, Massachusetts that Nancy’s life on earth came to a close.

Just as at her arrival in early 1940, Nancy was much-loved and blue-eyed; but her hair was now snow white as she peacefully passed, surrounded by love, to heaven at the twilight of 2024. She was not a little baby; but now a wife, mother, and grandmother; volunteer, faithful Christian servant, and teacher of children; creative artist and carer of people. She will be celebrated by family and friends at services in Florida on January 11, 2025, exactly 85 years from the first day she was welcomed into the world by her loving parents.