Barbara Anne Taylor

Barbara Ann Taylor, age 89, of York County, Va., passed away on June 11, 2026.

Barbara was born in Harrison, New Jersey, the daughter of a Polish Catholic mother and a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian father. Although she was not raised Catholic, Barbara began going to Mass with her best friend Claire when she was about 9 years old. She fell in love with Jesus and the Church, became Catholic, and never looked back.

That faith became the center of Barbara’s life. It shaped who she was as a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, and servant to her church and community. In many ways, her life’s calling was to bring her family deeper into the faith she loved. She did that not by lecturing, but by praying and living.

Barbara attended Douglass College, the women’s college associated with Rutgers University, where she met her future husband Dave. They liked to say they met in a broom closet, since that’s where the phone was when they first spoke. They fell in love, got pinned, and were married in October 1956 following Dave’s graduation and commissioning into the United States Air Force.

Because Dave was a Methodist, they expected to be married “outside the rail” in the Catholic Church. But on their wedding day, Dave surprised Barbara by announcing that he had secretly been taking instruction from a Monsignor, had become Catholic, and that they would be married “inside the rail.” It was the beginning of a 67-year marriage, a life of military service, frequent moves, four children, and a shared faith that would only deepen over time.

As an Air Force wife, Barbara moved often and built a home wherever the family was sent. After Dave retired from the Air Force in 1979, they settled on the Peninsula and Barbara found what became her family’s church home for more than 40 years at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. She was active in every part of parish life: Bible study, Outreach, Eucharistic ministry, RCIA, and the St. Valentine’s Guild. Until the end, she still found practical ways to serve whoever needed help.

Barbara was loving, kind, and caring, but also fun, and blessed with a dry sense of humor. One of her favorite things was to gather the family on Saturday for games. She enjoyed laughing, arguing and calling each other cheaters as much as long talks on the couch. She mainly just loved to have the family around the table.

Barbara’s faith was both deep and personal. She had a strong devotion to Mary and ended every night with a rosary, always offered for someone she loved or someone who needed prayer. It was not unusual for her family to find her in the morning with the rosary still in her hands, and that is how she died. That image captures much of who Barbara was: a woman of prayer, a mother in the fullest sense of the word, and someone always carrying others before God.

Barbara was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Col. David M. Taylor (U.S. Air Force ret.). She is survived by her children, David and Karen Taylor, Kim Taylor, Keith Taylor, and Scott Taylor; grandchildren, Luke, Jenny and Steve Morse, Zachary, Noah, and Jacob; and great-grandchildren, Sean and Colin.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM Thursday, June 18, 2026, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 100 Harpersville Road, in Newport News. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Outreach Ministry.

Arrangements are by Berceuse Funeral and Cremation Traditions in Hampton, Va.