Darlene Taylor

Darlene Taylor was born May 23, 1940 to Zuela and Gene Paradis of Council, Idaho. Her given name
was Mabel Darlene but she hated the name so much she wouldn’t even tell her kids or grand kids what
it was for many years. She has always gone by Darlene. She was the youngest of ten children.
She grew up on a farm where she milked the cows, fed the chickens and pigs and learned to ride, rope
and shoot. She talked about the fun she and her siblings would have when not doing chores. They
would go down to the river and swing across on vines (not the best idea as she couldn’t swim); hop on
the trains as they went by (yes, they were already moving when they jumped on); jumping bareback
on the horses and racing them through the field while standing on the horses back. It’s a good thing
her parents weren’t aware of these activities till years later or they would have had a heart attack.
She met her future husband John Frank Taylor in December of 1955 and they were married May 20,
1956. They had four children and lived in Council, Idaho for the first ten years of their marriage while
John got his engineers license and went to work for the Forest Service.
They were transferred to many different places for John’s work, McCall, Idaho, Challis, Idaho, Eureka,
California and finally to Placerville, California where they lived until they retired. After retirement they
moved to Afton, Wyoming. After John’s passing she moved back to Placerville for a few years and then
in 2022 she moved back to Wyoming.
She was a real people person. No matter where they lived the house was always open to anyone and
the coffeepot was always on! While in Challis, Idaho she learned about the Baha’i Faith and became a
dedicated believer, sharing her love and the teachings with anyone she came in contact with, She felt
truly blessed to have been able to help so many people in her lifetime find the Baha’i Faith and go on
to blossom and teach the Faith. She traveled both in the states and internationally to help spread the
teachings. She also served in various administrative capacities in Baha’i communities.
She was a licensed beautician and enjoyed working at a care facility doing the residents hair and
making them feel very special.
She loved spending time with her large family, holidays, camping, get togethers or any excuse to
throw a party. She enjoyed cooking, entertaining and planning large events. She was an avid card
player and taught her children and grand children many card games. She was a master bridge player
and played in many clubs and tournaments wherever she lived.
She enjoyed staying in touch by phone with her many many friends from all over the world. She was a
good friend to all and loved to hear about there victories and trials, their good times and their bad to
offer words of comfort or words of joy. She was kind, funny, sweet and direct. She will be greatly
missed by all who had the bounty of knowing her.
She was proceeded in death by her husband John Taylor and her grandson Paul Clark.
She leaves behind her four children Cliff Taylor, Debra (Matt) Clark, John (Maria) Taylor, Sandra (Larry)
Chavez, 19 grand kids, 41 great grand kids and 11 great-great grand kids.