Virginia M (Greeley) Taylor

Virginia Greeley Taylor 88, passed away on Friday, March 18, 2022, in Salem.

She was born June 26, 1933, to Captain Quentin Greeley and Mary Nash Greeley, in Oakland, Calif. She was the oldest of five children in the Greeley family.

Virginia’s father was a captain in the US Coast Guard and thus they didn’t stay in one place very long. After Oakland, they moved to Puerto Rico, Staten Island NY, Norfolk Va., and then to Astoria. Virginia was hoping to graduate from high school with her friends in Norfolk but just before her senior year, her father was transferred to Astoria. Virginia graduated from Astoria HS and then went on to college at Marylhurst. After college graduation, she was awarded the Fulbright Scholarship and went on to study at the University of Poitiers in France. 

Upon returning to the US, she went on to get her Master’s degree and teaching certificate at the University of Washington in Seattle. She was a high school teacher at Grant High School in Portland and at Crook County High School in Prineville. She was President of the Marylhurst Alumni Advisory Board. She had many lifelong friendships from those days. She married Neil Taylor in 1963 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Prineville and they moved to Lakeview. They were married for 55 years.   

In Lakeview, she was active in community groups:  Lake County Cowbells, St. Patrick’s Altar Society, Lake County Library Endowment Board, and the St. Patrick’s Church choir. She was a substitute teacher and assisted with youth programs. She loved being a wife and mom and spending time with Neil on the ranch. She continued to study and learn, she liked the computer and the internet and even shopping online. As Nana, she doted on her grandchildren, she was an avid reader and an excellent cook. 

Virginia was preceded in death by her husband, Cornelius (Neil) Taylor; her son, Cornelius Michael Taylor; parents, Quentin and Mary Greeley; her siblings, Marie Greeley Barnes and Michael Greeley. 

Virginia is survived by: Daughter, Nora Taylor Perry; grandchildren, Aidan, Justin, and Julia Perry; brother and sister-in-law, Quentin and Dorrie Greeley; sister and brother-in-law, Frances and John Weintraub; nephews and nieces, Michael (Kathy) Barnes, Sean (Lisa) Barnes, Keith Barnes, Brian (Leslie) Barnes, Kristin (Geoff) Pechinsky, Michael (Colleen) Greeley, Emily Weintraub, and Jeanne Weintraub, Con (Sally) Fitzgerald, Mary (Dick) Bradbury, Patty Fitzgerald, Sharon Fitzgerald, Barbara (Dan) Hatfield, Brenda Taylor, Teresa Taylor, and Henry Sholar, John (Theresa) Taylor, Marla (Bob) Wolf, Evy Taylor, Carla (Tom) Martin, Janet (Christian) Schlect, Rick Verhaeghe, Karmen (Tom) O’Leary and Carrie (Lance) Brown; and many great-nephews, nieces, extended family, and friends.

Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 1 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Lakeview.  Mass of Christian burial will be held on Saturday, April 2 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church.  Interment will follow at the I.O.O.F. Cemetery.  A gathering for family and friends will follow at the Elks Lodge. 

Memorial donations may be given to the Bernard Daly Educational Fund, PO Box 328, Lakeview, OR 97630, or to the Warner Valley First Responders, c/o of Lakeview Disaster Unit, PO Box 1007, Lakeview, OR, 97630.  

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