Obituary of Joanne Taylor

Joanne "Joannie" Seidler Taylor, 86, died on Tuesday, August 26th, 2014. She passed away peacefully in the home she had lived in for 46 years, surrounded by her collected art -- pottery, quilts, woodblock prints, paintings -- and flowers. It was a warm, sunny day, and she was not alone: her daughter-in-law Kathy, her grandson Samuel, and her longtime close friend Judith were with her during her final hours.Joannie was born on May 14th, 1928, in Chicago, Ill. Her parents, Leon and Edith, were 1st generation Americans, the children of German Jewish immigrants. Joannie was the youngest of the four Seidler kids, after Peggy, Paul, and Lucille. They grew up in Hyde Park, a neighborhood in Chicago's South Side. Joannie spent much of her free time with her friends and siblings, visiting her favorite Chicago museums, and, in the summer, swimming in lake Michigan or nearby pools. She loved her neighborhood and her city.She attended the University of Illinois, where she received a B.A. in Art Education. She claimed to have taken nearly enough English literature classes to have double-majored in the subject. She had been an unofficial student of literature since childhood: in elementary school she had read the "peace" parts of War and Peace and loved them. Leo Tolstoy, Henry James, and Jane Austen were among her favorite authors.After college she spent a year in Italy, where she learned enough Italian "to be able to order at the deli." Upon returning to Chicago she attended a party held by a close friend; at that party she met Donald Taylor, whom she married in December 1952. Don was teaching English literature at Northwestern University. In 1954 they had their first child, Leon; soon after his birth they moved to Seattle, where Don became a professor at the University of Washington. They had two more children, Benjamin in 1956, and Matthew in 1958.In 1968 the Taylor clan moved to Eugene, Don having accepted a professorship at the University of Oregon. In Eugene, while attending classes at the Maude Kerns Art Center, Joannie fell in love with the art of pottery. She was one of the first craft sellers at the Eugene Saturday Market. In the Eugene pottery community Joannie met Sophie Kirtner, who became a close friend. They, with three others, opened Opus 5, a shop where they sold pottery and other hand-made crafts. Joannie continued practicing her art long after Opus 5 closed, until she felt she was physically incapable of it.At first Joannie had not been particularly taken by the house they moved into on Elinor St., but, over the years, Don and Joanie steadily renovated. Don replaced the car port with a garage, built decks and stairs around the house and an enclosed walkway to the front door. They remodeled the interior extensively, particularly the kitchen. Joannie dedicated much time and energy to transforming the clay around the house into rich, pungent soil, and she planted many new trees and shrubs and flowers. In the mid-seventies they added a greenhouse to the south side of the house so that she could take care of plants year-round. The kids spent the rest of their adolescences there; and when they had kids of their own, brought their families back to visit often. Don and Joannie hosted dinner parties, put up visiting family members and friends, and had great relationships with many of their neighbors.At the end of her life, the house, her home, was the only place where Joannie could feel truly comfortable.Joannie lost Don three years before she passed. She is survived by three sons, ten grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 13th, at the Wayne Morse Ranch. Arrangements by Musgroves Family Mortuary in Eugene. In lieu of flowers, remembrances to the Heifer Project.