HARRISON — Eloise J. Taylor, of Harrison, Maine, passed away on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the age of 99.

She was born in Needham, Mass., to Ernest and Louise (Walker) Jacobson, on Dec. 5, 1919, and graduated at the top of her class from Needham High School in 1936. She went to work at the William Carter Company in Needham Heights, where she worked throughout World War II. On July 20, 1938, Eloise married her high school sweetheart, John Howell Taylor. “Weezie” and her Johnnie loved each other and the life they created together for over sixty-four years until John’s passing in 2002.

Financially unable to attend college, Eloise continued to feed her intense curiosity on her own. She was an avid reader and lover of books. If she wanted to learn how to do something, she found a book to teach her. Even in her final hours, she had a newspaper and book available to read.

Eloise was a graceful lady of quiet strength with an independent spirit, perhaps born of her many years rearing her children alone while her husband was called to service during WWII and later when his work took him away from home for weeks at a time. As her children grew, married and had children of their own, Eloise greatly enjoyed spending time with her extended family. However, she was also very happy in her own company and loved spending time working in the garden, cooking, designing and creating quilts, knitting, and doing needlework and other crafts. She was a recipient of The Boston Post Cane in Harrison and served as Treasurer for the Harrison Village Cemetery Association for numerous years.

With both her parents originally hailing from Maine, Eloise had Maine in her blood. Moreover, both she and John had Maine in their hearts. From early on, they frequently traveled to Maine for ski trips, hiking, canoeing and visiting relatives. After caring for her parents in their final years at her childhood home in Needham, Eloise and John realized a life’s dream by moving to Maine. They moved to Wild Meadow Farm in Harrison in 1986, where they spent the remainder of their days together, gardening, putting up vegetables, and enjoying each other’s company watching sunsets over the meadow. Each autumn, following the harvest, Eloise and John would “put on their walking shoes” and travel across the United States, always returning home in time to celebrate “farm Christmas” with their children and their families, who would gather to be with them and enjoy the special beauty of a Maine Christmas.

Eloise was a woman of deep faith, who always saw the good in people and went through life with a smile on her face, a sparkle in her blue eyes, and gratitude in her heart. She leaves behind her grateful family: son Kenneth Taylor and his wife, Judy, of Laconia, N.H.; daughter Nicki Taylor of Harrison; daughter Bet Gailor and her husband, Mike Gailor of North Granby, Conn., and her son-in-law, Frederick Moore, and his wife, Ellen Corrigan, of Scarborough, Maine. “Grandmama” is also survived by grandchildren Nathalie Taylor, Martine Taylor, Heather Moore Wood and her husband, David Wood, Heidi Fisher and her husband, Eric Fisher, Lauren Nassiff and her husband, Andy Nassiff; and by grandsons Knute and Gipper Gailor. Great-grandchildren are Jacob Shutt, Aidan and Ellis Wood, Samuel Corrigan Moore, Gabriel and Grace Fisher, and William and Emma Nassiff. Eloise was predeceased by her daughter, Marcia Ann Moore; her brothers Chester Jacobson and Charles (Chuck) Jacobson; her infant sister, Grace; and her great-grandson, Nicholas Shutt.

A private gathering for family and friends will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Donations in Eloise’s memory may be made to The Harrison Village Library, P. O. Box 597, Harrison, Maine 04040-0597.