Lou Jean Taylor

Lou Jean Rose Taylor Jeannie died October 16, 2010, surrounded by family. She was a loving mother, grandmother, and friend. Her hospitality and creative spirit were evident in her relationships, her art, and her personal style. Jeannie was born in McCook, Nebraska, on December 17, 1936, to Wilfred Jesse "Bud" Taylor and Anna Catherine Duda Taylor. She grew up in McCook, then moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in high school, where she was active in choir and dramatic arts. She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1954 and married her high school sweetheart, Frank Shelledy. They lived together in Lincoln, Nebraska; Seattle, Washington; San Jose, California; and Boulder, Colorado. Jeannie and Frank parented five children together, and she would have liked even more. When she was no longer able to have children of her own, she adopted one more, and she later took special-needs foster children into her home. While in San Jose, Jeannie volunteered to provide food and transportation for families of migrant farm workers. Later, she was an advocate for special needs children and was active in Special Olympics. She was an artist, and had a lifelong interest in painting and visual arts. In her early thirties, Jeannie became a single mother of five, including a severely handicapped daughter, to whom she was devoted. She worked hard to hold her family together and to support her children as a legal secretary in Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis, Missouri; and Atlanta, Athens, and Savannah, Georgia. In the 1970s, she achieved a lifelong dream of having a family farm in North Georgia, with cattle, milk cows, pigs, chickens, and a large family garden that fed the family year round. After raising her family, she volunteered in the Peace Corps and lived and worked in Belize. She remained in Belize after her Peace Corps service ended and operated a primitive Bed & Breakfast in the Cayo District. Jeannie moved to Savannah first in 1995, and again in 2005, to be with her oldest daughter while undergoing treatment for throat cancer, which she survived with great dignity. During her years here, she focused on artistic interests. Drawing on art classes from decades earlier in San Jose and at the University of Colorado, she was an accomplished China painter and later specialized in oil painting. She was an active member of the Savannah Artists' Guild, and some of her dearest friends were fellow artists in the Tuesday morning painting group. Jeannie is survived by her daughters Debbie Crawford, Suzanne Shelledy, and Bonnie Taylor (chihuaha) of Savannah, Georgia, son David Shelledy and daughter-in-law Mary French of Davis, California, son Frank Shelledy and daughter-in-law Myra Tucker of Atlanta, Georgia; grandchildren Clay Crawford and granddaughter-in-law Natalie Crawford of Savannah, Georgia, Christopher Crawford of Savannah and Washington, D.C., Jack and Grace Shelledy of Davis, California, and Katherine Shelledy of Atlanta, Georgia; and great-grandsons William and Michael Kelly Crawford of Savannah, Georgia. Jeannie was preceded in death by her parents, Wilfred Jesse "Bud" Taylor and Anna Catherine Duda Taylor Zeiss, sister Carole Taylor Miller, daughter Diane Louise Shelledy, and son-in-law Clarence William "Chip" Crawford. A memorial service for Jeannie Taylor will be held Monday, October 18, 2010, at 6:00 P.M. at Fox & Weeks Chapel, 7200 Hodgson Memorial Drive, Savannah.