Thelma-Jeanne F. Taylor

Thelma-Jeanne (”T.J.”) Taylor passed in San Francisco on September 6, the day after her 92nd birthday, after a nine-month ordeal with cancer. At her bedside were her beloved husband of 34 years, J. Curtiss Taylor III (a fourth-grade classmate), adored son Bennett Freeman and daughter-in-law Rebecca MacKinnon (both of Washington DC and San Francisco). She was pre-deceased in September 2023 by her devoted brother K. Bruce Friedman of San Francisco.

Born in Buffalo, New York to Florence and Bennett Friedman, T.J. was educated at the Elmwood-Franklin School, the Buffalo Seminary and Wellesley College (where she earned a degree in English). She moved to San Francisco in 1956 with her first husband, the late Harry L. Freeman, and was followed by her mother and brother in 1957 after the death of her father and the birth of her son. She became a true San Franciscan and, since 2009, a resident of San Francisco Towers where she and Curt joined a community of friends old and new.

Across a three decade-plus career, TJ worked with the local diplomatic corps as a public affairs advisor, in commercial property management, and as a human resources executive at a San Francisco bank. In her retirement she managed her stock portfolio with buoyant enthusiasm tempered by careful judgment.

T.J.’s vivacious, vivid lifetime personality was characterized in her Buffalo Seminary 1950 yearbook with her “sparkling eyes… shining bob… tall dignity… apparel extraordinaire… hustle-bustle… energetic efficiency… journalistic promise… dramatic excellence [for whom] all the world is a stage.”

T.J. loved fashion, art, and the color red. She loved traveling, especially to Washington and New York, London and Paris. A committed Democrat, she loved politics. A fine writer, she loved tutoring her son to become one as well. Above all, T.J. loved her family to whom she was passionately dedicated.

Contributions in her memory to Wellesley College would be greatly appreciated.

A celebration of her life will be held at San Francisco Towers on October 26.