Elizabeth Van Horn-Taylor

Elizabeth Van Horn-Taylor Raised by quintessentially New England parents, Jessie and Richard Van Horn, in Bridgeport, CT, Elizabeth was born the eldest of three daughters on February 17, 1939. Known to all of her vast array of friends, associates and relatives simply as "Liz", this sweetly understated and petite lady was a person of exceptional passion and zest for out of the ordinary experiences. These ranged from hummingbird banding for the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (one of her interests in recent years), to mineral specimen collecting and gem cutting, to quilting, to piloting airplanes and riding hot air balloons. Liz was an expert photographer with a particular interest in capturinig images from nature. She lived for extended periods in places such as Japan and France, and loved traveling in out of the way locales, among them Romania, Peru, India, Ecuador, Egypt, Mexico and Afghanistan Recently, though she was well into her 60's by then, Liz and her husband, Bill traveled from Pakistan across the Hindukush Mountains, then along the ancient Silk Road all the way to the Pacific coast of China. All of America, of course, as well as the United Kingdom, were familiar yet exciting territory for Liz. In every place she visited or called home (New England, California, Oregon, and Arizona) and in every one of the many activities she enjoyed, Liz made and kept adoring friends, most of them for decades. Middlebury College in Vermont was where Liz gained her college education. She went on to serve as an administrator at Harvard College in Cambridge for several years during the 1960s and 1970s before boldly striking out on her own. She and her husband-to-be, Bill Taylor, met while they were both working at the Renaissance Fair in Marin County, CA, in 1982. They married soon after and founded a successful scientific personnel head-hunting firm, Van Horn Taylor Associates. Together almost 26 years they would have celebrated their 24th Wedding Anniversary on June 18th. After an astoundingly long and heroic battle with virulent cancer, Liz finally succumbed on February 15, 2007, two days before her 68th birthday. She is survived by her husband, Bill; her sisters, Marge Van Horn and Linda Greco (both living in FL along with their families); and by many, many loving friends, who will deeply miss her laughter, her compassion, and her intelligence. Each New Year was customarily celebrated by a crowd of friends as the great grandfather clock in the Taylor's home struck 12. It won't be the same without Liz's presence. But our love and memories of her will last a lifetime. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to one of Liz's favorite charities, Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, PO Box 5521, Bisbee, AZ 85603, Natural Resources Defense Council, 40 West 20th Street, NY, NY 10011, or Heifer International, 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72202.