Cover photo for Carole Taylor's Obituary
Carole Taylor Profile Photo

Carole Taylor

September 28, 1950 — June 12, 2016

Carole Taylor

Mary Carole Cunningham Taylor was born on Sept 28, 1950, in Dallas, Texas, the second of five children to Ann and Jim Cunningham.  She left this world on Sunday, June 12, 2016 surrounded by the love of family and strong in her faith in God and the promise of eternal life.  She lived the first 9 years of her life in Arlington, Texas and then moved with her family to Temple, Texas where she would graduate from high school and also meet her future husband, Van.   She was the perennial class favorite, head cheerleader, homecoming queen and Miss Temple High School.   She attended the University of Texas at Arlington and North Texas State University in Denton and received her degree in elementary education from North Texas in 1972.

She went on her first date with Van at the age of 12 to a high school football game and thus began a lifelong romance and a courtship of nine years until they were married on May 15, 1971, one week after Van's graduation from Texas A&M.  They recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary.  As they began their married life, Carole taught school for three years before beginning her true life's calling of being a mother.  She and Van welcomed four daughters into the world and Van's career with AT&T would lead them on a journey of a dozen corporate moves over the years throughout Texas, the Midwest and to the East Coast.  Carole was the consummate wife and mother, always ensuring that family and her girls were the first priority and always there in support of Van's career.  Throughout her life she was a shining example to her girls of love, honesty, integrity, friendship and compassion.  Her loving spirit was always more concerned with everyone else than herself, and she leaves a legacy of faith, family and friends that will be carried forward by her four daughters and her six granddaughters.

Upon Van's retirement in 2006, Carole and Van relocated to Bryan, to be close to Texas A&M and all that it offers.  As the daughter of an Aggie, Carole was instrumental in introducing Van to the Aggie Spirit when they were but young teenagers dating and their continuing love of A&M only added to their love for each other and their family over the years.  In retirement they enjoyed any and all Aggie sports, involvement with the Association of Former Students and the Texas A&M Foundation, and Carole was currently serving on the boards of MSC OPAS and the Friends of the Sterling C. Evans Library.  She took great pleasure in hosting her Aggie brothers, nieces and nephews for football weekends in the fall.  Most importantly, over the last ten years she cherished her role as “Grams” to her six granddaughters and made sure that she was both a positive influence in their lives and there to support whatever activity they pursued.  She has endowed both her daughters and her granddaughters with her love of life and the importance of taking time for family and friends, whether to enjoy the annual beach vacation, celebrate a birthday or gather as family for special holidays.

Carole leaves behind her lifelong partner and loving husband of 45 years, Van, and four daughters and their families: Suzannah Taylor and her husband, James Antonson of Brooklyn, NY; Sally Taylor Reyes and her husband, Rick, of Round Rock, TX; Kaycee Taylor Crisp and her husband, Brandon of Austin, TX; and Melissa Anne Taylor and her wife, Emily Beach, of Austin, TX; and six granddaughters, Tallulah and Clementine Antonson, Annie and Gracie Reyes, and Caroline and Violet Crisp.  She is also survived by her sister, Su Cunningham of Round Rock, TX, her brother Dr. Jim Cunningham and his wife, Martha, of Ft. Worth, TX, her brother Dr. David Cunningham and his wife, Pam, of Kennedale, TX, and her brother-in-law, Cyrel Taylor and his wife, DeDe of Loveland, CO, along with eight nieces and nephews and two great nieces.

Carole was preceded in death by her parents, Ann and Jim Cunningham of Arlington, TX, as well as her younger sister, Kay Cunningham.

Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00pm at Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan, on Tuesday, June 14, 2016. Funeral services will be held at A&M United Methodist Church at 1:00pm on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, followed by burial at the Aggie Field of Honor. A brief reception following the burial will be held at Traditions Club.

Donations in memory of Carole may be made to Hospice Brazos Valley (http://www.hospicebrazosvalley.org/donate.html), the MSC OPAS Education Outreach Program (http://opas.tamu.edu/endowment.html) or the charity of your choice.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Carole Taylor, please visit our flower store.

Guestbook

Visits: 39

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Send Flowers

Send Flowers

Plant A Tree

Plant A Tree