Beverly Arthur Taylor

1951 - 2017

Sept. 9, 1951 ~ Jan. 11 2017
Beverly Arthur Taylor, beloved wife, mother and stepmother, passed away Jan. 11 at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. She had battled cancer of the lymph system since the spring of 2016 but had bounced back in the fall, managing to host family and friends for a wedding reception, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Loving and devout, Bev always seemed to have a smile on her face and a kind word to share. Steady, thoughtful and always impeccably dressed, she was held in high regard and much loved.
Bev was born in Chicago on Sept. 9, 1951, and grew up in its suburb of Homewood, Illinois. Her father, Sam, was a businessman, and her mother, Helen, a housewife, with Bev an only child. She attended SMU (Southern Methodist University) for one year before transferring to Arizona State University, from which she graduated in 1973.
After enjoying a trip to Italy during college, Bev took a job as a reservation agent for Continental Airlines. Soon she moved on to become a flight attendant for Western Airlines, known in the 1970s for its memorable slogan "the only way to fly." Bev remained with the company after Western merged with and became Delta Airlines.
On Oct. 2, 1982, she married Joe Taylor, a Delta Airlines pilot who had also flown with Western. It was Joe's second marriage, Bev's first. They settled together in Salt Lake City, Delta's new western hub.
In 1993, they welcomed a baby boy, Grant Benjamin Taylor. After having worked sixteen years as a flight attendant, Bev decided to devote herself to raising and homeschooling Grant-which she succeeded at doing through most of his high school years. Grant ultimately graduated from Brighton High School, and, in 2015, the Air Force Academy. In June 2016, much to Bev's delight, Grant married Cierra Anderson, also of Salt Lake City.
Bev was also a wonderful stepmother to five kids from Joe's previous marriage: Joe, Tim, Brett, Rick and Heather, and a step-grandmother to seven grandchildren. Most of them reside in the Sacramento area in California.
A longtime member of the Grace Community Bible Church and a bible study leader at the Salt Lake City Chinese Christian Church, Bev was a devout Christian and was admired for leading a life of principle and grace. In her last few years, she took a bright young Taiwanese girl under her wing and tutored her daily, helping her to flourish.
Bev is survived by her husband Joe, her son Grant and daughter-in-law Cierra, and her stepchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, Jan. 16 at 10:00 a.m. at Grace Community Bible Church in Sandy, Utah. Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.