Mary Taylor

Mary Short Taylor, 90, completed her earthly race on 21 March 2021, having peacefully fallen asleep and passing into eternity. Mary was born to Harold and Chloe Short in Auburn, NY where she spent most of her childhood. Mary's life might best be summed up in the words Service, Faith, and Adventure. Mary's adventurous spirit was evident after her Junior year, accepting an invitation and travelling solo by train to Pasadena, California to live with her best friend's family when she moved there. She ultimately received her diploma on the field of the famed Rose Bowl. She returned to New York and married an Air Force pilot at age 23, having 5 children by age 32. Along the way, Mary was an avid volunteer, serving in and with her local church, the Boy Scouts, PEO, the elderly, community groups, and short-term missions. While raising her children, Mary taught at the NY State School for the Deaf in Rome, NY and earned a degree as a Licensed Vocational Nurse. She worked at Rome General Hospital for 12 years in the OB/GYN/Newborn Nursery. In 1992 she moved to Fresno, California working at Fresno Community Hospital in the post-partum department caring for newborn babies, retiring...[more]

View Full Online Obituary and Tributes

1995. Not content to relax in retirement, she worked as a volunteer for 8 years with Youth With a Mission, its medical outreach Mercy Ships, and Greater Europe Missions, even helping a church youth fellowship build homes for the homeless in Mexico. Mary enjoyed traveling. She served Mercy Ships at their international headquarters in Texas and aboard the Caribbean Mercy, landing in 14 US ports as well as Montreal, Canada, Victoria, British Columbia and to Nicaragua and Guatemala. With the other ministries, she served in Romania, Switzerland, China, Tibet, Kosovo, and Thailand. More recently, even in the decline of dementia, she was known to have a keen and regular sense of humor, keeping her caregivers in stitches (the good kind). Mary is survived by her equally adventurous children, Fred Taylor IV(Baltimore, MD), Susan Shearer (Manhattan, KS), Doug Taylor (Clovis, CA), Peter Taylor (Zambia, Africa), and Andrew Taylor (San Antonio, TX), 11 grandchildren, and 9 greatgrandchildren. She was predeceased by her older brother, Jack Short, and her older sister Jane Balian. Private family services with interment in Forest Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to her favorite ministry via the website, donate.mercyships.org