Sarah Elizabeth Taylor (Sally) Young

Sarah Elizabeth Taylor (Sally) Young, who died on April 26, 2016, was born May 11, 1935 in Amarillo, Texas, to Jay Littleton Taylor and Imogene Herring Taylor, who predeceased her. She attended public schools in Amarillo and Los Angeles, California, and was a proud graduate of The Hockaday School, class of 1953. She attended Connecticut College for Women and the University of Texas at Austin from which she received a B.A. degree in 1957. Sally married Barney Thornton Young on August 31, 1957. Sally’s oversize personality and love of life belied her small physical stature. She was devoted to her family and friends with an intensity characteristic of her Panhandle heritage. There was no one more fiercely supportive of her family or more loyal to her wide circle of friends (many of which she had kept from her schooldays) than Sally. A voracious reader of everything from detailed histories and biographies to the latest mystery, she enjoyed nothing more than discussing the book she had just finished. Sally’s vast knowledge across a variety of subjects, well leavened with a raucous sense of humor, could make even a short visit with her highly memorable. She was a lifelong animal lover, which manifested itself both in her many years of volunteer work for the Dallas Zoo as well as in a famous succession of pets (especially her Bull Terriers) whom she adored. She and her beloved husband Barney were ideally matched in personality and interests. In particular, they enjoyed a lifelong love of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they had a house from 1995 to 2015, and spent several months each year. Their marriage was a source of inspiration and admiration for her children. Family gatherings, whether in Dallas or Santa Fe, were always times of great fun and endless laughter.

Sally is survived by her husband, Barney, and three children, Jay Thornton Young of Plano, Texas, and his wife, Laurie, Sarah Elizabeth Young Miller of San Marino, California, and her husband, Eric, and Serena Taylor Young Ritch, of Dallas, Texas, as well as seven grandchildren: Katherine Elizabeth Wade Young, John Alexander Taylor Young, Sarah Elizabeth Miller, India Grace Miller, Matthew Thornton Miller, Emma Thornton Young and Sophie Taylor Ritch. She had three siblings, Stephen York Taylor, who has predeceased her, Jane Louise Taylor O’Toole and Penelope Ellen Taylor Rembe. Sally’s community activities included serving as a Dallas Junior League docent at the Senior Citizens Center, the U.S.O. and the Dallas Zoo; serving as a volunteer at the Children’s Medical Center and the Stew Pot; and service as a member of Educational Opportunities, Inc. Board of Directors, the Hockaday Hartmann Fellow Committee, the Hockaday Alumnae Board and the Yale University Development Board. Sally was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and the Ridotto Dance Club. The family is especially grateful to Estella Fraire, who has been with them for 22 years and took excellent care of Sally, particularly in recent years. Sally will be terribly missed by all who knew and loved her. The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, any memorial contribution be made to The Hockaday School, Development Office, 11600 Welch Road, Dallas, Texas, 75229, or to a charity of the donor’s choice. There will a brief private memorial with just the family present, followed by a reception for friends at the house from 2PM to 4PM on Friday, April 29, 2016.