Honorable Helen Marie Taylor

TAYLOR, Honorable Helen Marie, passed away on January 25, 2022, at the age of 98, quietly and peacefully in her sleep with family by her side.

Helen Marie Taylor loved America and the liberty, creativity and prosperity she saw produced by the U.S. Constitution and our free enterprise system. She worked with passion and perseverance to protect and enhance the spiritual and intellectual foundations and the shared living history from which America's many blessings flow.

Mrs. Taylor was involved in public service as a political activist and preservationist for all of her adult life. She served on the Board of Directors of numerous conservative organizations and was Vice President of her close friend Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum from 1981 to the present. Mrs. Taylor was proud of her service to our country through her appointment by President Ronald Reagan as a United States Representative to the United Nations from 1986 to 1987 and previously as the Ranking U.S. Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In Virginia, she was most famous for standing in front of a paving machine that was to lay asphalt over the original cobblestone on Monument Avenue in 1968. She later served as President of the Monument Avenue Association and as President of the James Monroe Memorial Foundation (1979-1993). She cofounded the James Madison Museum in Orange, Virginia and has an extensive collection of interesting and historically significant documents on loan to the Virginia Historical Society. She worked to help catalyze the establishment of Montpelier and received its first and only lifetime membership in 2009.

While public service is the dominant theme of most of her adult life, Helen Marie Taylor really beamed with joy as she reminisced over her career as an actress and as a founder and supporter of some of the best repertory theater companies in the U.S. She was an Honours Graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England and had an extremely fulfilling career as an actress. She both taught Shakespeare at the American Academy of Dramatic Art and acted in Shakespearean plays including Ophelia in Hamlet where she received a Best Young Actress Award.

Mrs. Taylor loved her native city of Waco, Texas and founded a museum there as a gift to her hometown. She described herself as a Legend Bearer, borne of a loving relationship with her grandmother, Sallie Sears Taylor, who spent countless hours sharing stories about her life and the history of her family. Mrs. Taylor endeavored to live a life worthy of her grandmother's investment of time by sharing history with the world through numerous educational efforts. In 1986, she purchased the old Barron Springs Elementary School in an effort to preserve the land known as the first campground for Waco Indians and to preserve the history of the school. She believed that the full measure of history should be preserved as an education for all Americans. The museum opened in 1993 to tell the rich history of the land, the school, the local people of Waco and her "We the People" exhibit to include the larger story of foundational documents for our country including the U.S. Constitution.

Helen Marie Taylor was a larger than life character and will be deeply missed by her surviving sons, Howell Taylor and George Taylor Munroe; and her beloved grandson, Zachary Taylor Munroe. She was predeceased by her first husband, George Barber Munroe; and her second husband, Jaquelin Erasmus Taylor. She was also predeceased by her sons, Jaquelin Pendleton Taylor and Ralph William Taylor Munroe.

Funeral services will be private and a Celebration of Life will be announced at a future date. The family of Mrs. Taylor would especially like to thank her caregivers, Barbara Jennings, Page Chauncey and Roxie Pedroli; as well as her loyal assistant of 17 years, Bonnie Ferris; and her property caretaker of 16 years, Rufus Towles. Contributions in her memory may be made to the James Madison Museum, 129 Caroline Street, Orange, Va. 22960 or The Montpelier Foundation, Development Department, P.O. Box 911, Orange, Va. 22960.