Karin Gunilla Guggenheim Taylor passed away on June 3, 2018, after coping with dementia for several years. Gunilla was born in Stockholm, Sweden on January 9, 1936, the daughter of Edla Larson and Arther Guggenheim.
Gunilla's uncle gave his life as a German soldier in World War I. In the notice of his death, the Fatherland thanked the family for his sacrifice. Gunilla's father then enlisted and was wounded in combat. Years later, their mother was deported to Auschwitz. She never returned.
Gunilla became interested in figure skating in Stockholm, an interest she continued when the family moved to Goteborg near the Norwegian border after World War II ended. In Goteborg, she was known by the media as the "Hope of Goteborg" and the "Ice Princess". She competed throughout Sweden, placing first in many events.
After graduating from the University of Goteborg, Gunilla attended the Physiotherapist Institute of Southern Sweden at the University of Lund, graduating in 1960.
Gunilla worked in Swedish clinics for two years and in Swiss clinics for two years. She returned to Goteborg to work at Sahlgrenska Hospital University Clinic.
In 1965, taking advantage of the growing demand for physical therapists in the United States, Gunilla obtained a permanent visa and sailed for New York, where she worked at Queens Hospital Center Affiliation in Jamaica, New York.
At the suggestion of a friend, who was working in Durham, she explored opportunities in the Triangle. She began work at Rex Hospital in 1967.
At Rex, Gunilla gained a reputation for charming reluctant patients into doing what they were afraid to do. She continued to use this skill in later years when when she worked in home health care.
Shortly after moving to Raleigh, she met Marvin E. Taylor, Jr., a young attorney from Smithfield, who had recently returned to North Carolina from Manhattan where he was an associate in a New York law firm. Two years later, they were married. Their daughter Karin was born in 1970.
As a result of IBM's decision to locate in the Research Triangle Park in 1965, Swedish families rotated from Stockholm to Raleigh on temporary assignments. Together with Gunilla's family, this small floating group held informal get togethers for Lucia, Christmas and Midsommar. Years later, as the Scandinavian community of American descendants and natives grew, chapters of SWEA, VASA, Friends of Scandinavia and the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of North Carolina were established in the Triangle. Gunilla's husband played a significant role as co-founder of SACC-NC.
In 1976, she joined her husband in Los Gatos, California after his move in late 1975 to join the legal team at Memorex Corporation, a Silicon Valley company rebuilding after a near miss with bankruptcy. After five years at Memorex, the Taylor family moved to Hickory, North Carolina where Marvin became department counsel for the General Electric facility in Hickory. Barely settled in, GE's new CEO, Jack Welch, began downsizing GE's law department. As a result, Gunilla followed her husband back to Raleigh and private practice.
Gunilla loved Sweden and made numerous trips to visit family and friends there. On her last trip, she attended the 50th reunion of her physical therapy class.
Gunilla was predeceased by her parents and her brothers Gunnar and Arne. She is survived by her husband, their daughter, Karin Elizabeth Guggenheim Taylor, her nephews Ulf and Peter Guggenheim, two great nephews and many American and European friends.
A private service is planned.
The family suggests that memorial donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 5171 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 101, Raleigh, NC 27612, or to a charity of choice.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's Raleigh, NC, (919) 828-4311.
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