Helen Knott Taylor

Beloved mother Helen Ruth Knott Taylor, 97, was welcomed by her Savior, Jesus Christ, and reunited with her husband on December 17, 2020. Her family will gather privately for her interment in Wendell, NC, on Saturday, December 19, 2020, and a celebration of her life will be held at a later date at Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro.

Helen was born in Wendell, one of eleven children to the late Lawson B. and Julia Dean Knott. She graduated in 1944 from Meredith College in Raleigh and continued her education at East Carolina University, where she earned her master’s degree in education. After serving for 36 years, first as a Supervisor of Elementary Schools in Nash County, then as an elementary school teacher in the Greensboro City School System she retired in 1983. Her children report that she was a teacher that even after retirement never left the class room as educating was not a job, it was her calling. She met Burton H. Taylor on a blind date, and they married in 1948 after he returned from serving in WWII and finished his degree at NC State. They moved to Greensboro in 1956, where she became a charter member of Lawndale Baptist Church. She continued as a Sunday School teacher there until her late eighties, sang in the choir, and served on various committees.

Helen was a feisty, independent woman who loved music and had a beautiful voice. She loved animals, especially cats, and always had a feline companion. She drove until the age of 95 and visited the YMCA daily until 96 years young. Helen also could give unsolicited advice and her children jokingly said, “Not only did she know God’s will for her life, but for yours as well!” She loved her family deeply and was a wonderfully supportive wife and mother.

She will be missed by her children and their spouses, B. Henry Taylor, Jr. and wife Kathy of Charlotte and Julie A. Taylor and husband Scott Swezy of Albuquerque, NM, step-grandson Skyler Swezy and wife Lindsay Noyes of Albuquerque, NM, and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband and parents, her ten siblings preceded her in death.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be directed to Lawndale Baptist Church, 3505 Lawndale Drive, Greensboro, NC 27408, or AuthoraCare Collective (Hospice), 2500 Summit Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27455.

Online condolences may be offered at www.haneslineberryfhnorthelm.com.