Obituaries

Lorraine Fagan Taylor

Lorraine Fagan Taylor

Lorraine Fagan Taylor, the youngest child of the late Terrace Gilliam Fagan and Lancelot Vincent Fagan, made her transition on December 27, 2010, at the Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, with her family by her bedside.

Lorraine was born March 4, 1940, in Plymouth, North Carolina. She received her early education at Plymouth Elementary School and graduated from Washington County Union High School in Roper, North Carolina. She immediately matriculated at Virginia Union University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962. She began her early teaching career in Plymouth, N.C., and moved on to teach in Washington, North Carolina, Richmond and Goochland County, Virginia, for a short time.

Lorraine moved to Riverhead, New York, in 1972 and was hired as a Social Studies teacher in the Riverhead High School where she taught for 25 years. Additional educational courses were taken at New York State University (Stony Brook) and Long Island University (Southampton) to earn her permanent teacher certification for the State of New York. While working in Riverhead, she was a role model for many African American students. She supervised the Black Ensemble, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Club, Operation PUSH and Conflict Mediation. She retired in 1995. She was a dedicated educator who always offered the best of herself to her students.

Lorraine married Alvin O. Nash after completing her college education. From this union they became the parents of two daughters, Alvis Lorraine and Arnetta Lynn. The marriage ended in divorce and for many years she was a single mother. In 1994 she married Edward A. Taylor of Hempstead, New York. They relocated to Lansdale, Pennsylvania, where they began to enjoy their lives together, making many friends, becoming active members of Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History), Virginia Union University Alumni Association and other community organizations. They were dearly loved by their circle of friends. Lorraine suffered a great loss with the passing of her husband, Edward, on August 30, 2009.

Lorraine’s life was an excellent model of devotion to family first, to her friends, and to her students during her teaching career. She was known to go out of her way to make life easier for her loved ones. Her daughters could always depend on her to be there for them and their families. She was a collector of African Artifacts, which were visible all over her home. But most of all she was a collector of photographs of her grandchildren. She was a proud mother and grandmother. She loved to travel and in October 2010 took her dream trip to South Africa.

Lorraine is survived by her daughters, Alvis Lorraine Fields (husband, Scott) and Arnetta Lynn Diarra (husband, Ibrahima); and her stepsons, Douglas Taylor and Walter Taylor (wife, Tomeka). Also surviving are her sisters, Fay L. Fagan and Terrace Fagan Mitchell (husband, Rudolph); five grandchildren, Tiffany Fields, Jaden Fields, Solomon Diarra, Aimira Diarra and Terrace Diarra; mother-in-law, Juanita F. Nash; and aunts, Patricia G. Selby, Florence H. Fagan and Delma M. Fagan. Among her devoted friends are Nancy Stevens-Smith and Sharron Greaves. She is also survived by a host of other family members, friends and colleagues. Lorraine will be sorely missed and will always be remembered as the loving person that she was to all who knew her.

Memorial services were held Jan. 7 at Grace Baptist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

This is a paid notice.