Mrs. Opal Beatrice Long Taylor of Clifton Forge, Virginia, died Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in her home surrounded by family.
She was born September 8, 1923 at Mallow, Va., the daughter of the late Atchless Murat Long, Jr. and Pearl Wood Long of Caldwell, W.Va.
The family moved to the "old home place" in Caldwell in 1925, where she spent her growing up years in West Virginia.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William Sydnor Taylor, who died June 19, 1992. She had resided in Clifton Forge since 1943. She graduated from White Sulphur High School in 1943, then graduated as a Registered Nurse from the Chesapeake & Ohio School of Nursing in the class of 1946, after which she was a member of the U.S. Nurses Cadet Corps during World War II.
She worked as a Registered Nurse for over 20 years before she joined her husband in running the W.S. Taylor Heating and Appliance Service, where she did the bookkeeping and took service calls for the business. She was a life-member of the Founders Auxiliary to the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad, joining in 1957 and serving as treasurer for 15 years and also serving terms as secretary and chaplain.
She served on the American Cancer Board as Chair of the Cancer Loan Closet for 10 years. She was an American Red Cross Nurse with over 30 years of service and was active in the Red Cross Blood Mobile program and was a volunteer for the Meals on Wheels program. She was awarded numerous certificates of appreciation for her service from the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society.
She was a member of the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ in Clifton Forge for 18 years Ð including Circle No. 5 of Women's Fellowship Ministry group, the Lunch Bunch and the Bible Study Group.
She was the hub of her extended family, keeping all her children, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins in touch and was the keeper of all the family photographs and stories. She enjoyed refinishing furniture, collecting spoons, keeping up with the latest medical breakthroughs and research, finding new places to display all her family photographs and reading.
Mrs. Taylor is survived by two sons and a daughter-in-law; William Atchless Taylor of Clifton Forge, Christopher Wayne Taylor and Darlene Mason-Taylor of Atchison, Kansas. She is also survived by one brother and two sisters: Kenneth Darius Long of Lynchburg, Va., Mrs. Eva Mae Long Vance of Kent, Ohio, and Mrs. Francis Evelie Long Almond of Tuscola, Texas; a sister-in-law, Christine Taylor Patterson of Cliftondale Park; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Besides her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by four brothers and two sisters; an infant sister, James Samuel Long, Rev. Atchless Murat Long III, Landon Leroy Long, Simon Eugene Long and Mrs. Patricia Jean Long Bragg, and an infant sister.
The funeral service will be conducted from the Chapel of Nicely Funeral Home, Clifton Forge on Saturday, Dec. 10th at 11:00 a.m. with the Reverend Walter Lee Wood, of Roanoke officiating, assisted by the Reverend Glenn E. Clements. The family will receive visitors from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Friday evening, Dec. 9th at Nicely Funeral Home and at other times at the home. Interment will follow in Greenbrier Memorial Gardens in Lewisburg, WVA.
Active pallbearers will be selected from friend and family attending the service, with honorary pallbearers from the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad Auxiliary members. The family suggests in lieu of flowers that memorial donations be made to the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad, 522 Commercial Ave., Clifton Forge, VA 24422 or the Mountain Regional Hospice Volunteers, P.O. Box 637, Clifton Forge, VA 24422.
Arrangements are being handled by Nicely Funeral Home, Clifton Forge.
