COLUMBUS
Nancy Lee Taylor (Gibbon), of Columbus, Indiana, pharmacist, wife, and mother, departed earthly life at 6:09 am on January 12th, 2022, at Columbus Regional Hospital in the bosom of her family.
Nancy was born August 14th, 1940, in Washington DC to Clyde Lee Gibbon and Lelsie Mildred Gibbon (Powell). She is descended from lines of tenant farmers and blacksmiths and was raised to young adulthood on a family farm in Shelltown, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Her mother’s family were the first to own their own land.
While Nancy stayed with her Aunt Edna Payne and attended Washington High School in Princess Anne, Maryland, during the school year, her parents lived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in a planned settlement called Abqaiq. This town was built to support operations of the Arab-American Oil Company (Aramco), where her father Clyde worked on assignment as a technical expert on oil-field vehicles.
During the summers, Nancy would travel to Arabia to be with her family and work as a secretary in the Aramco offices. As great an adventure as this was, it would lead to greater things yet because she made the acquaintance of a young IBM employee from Indiana named Dick Taylor. He too worked on contract for Aramco, repairing office machines. She arranged to go out with him on a double date, and the two became close. Dick wrote to his mother about Nancy, and had engagement and wedding bands made by an Arab goldsmith that he had met in the local marketplace.
Nancy completed high school in 1958. On her return to the United States she took inspiration from a family friend, the renowned hospital pharmacist Dr. Arthur Purdum, and began studies at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Baltimore. Dick entered an engineering program at Johns Hopkins University because it was the school closest to hers. After her graduation, the two were married on August 11th, 1962.
As her husband completed graduate engineering studies, she worked in a number of small retail pharmacies. When Dick found a job at Cummins and the couple settled in Columbus, Nancy found work with The Apothecary at Sandcrest Medical.
Their two sons, Richard and William, were born in 1967 and 1969, and Nancy combined professional and family life by working part-time until the boys reached adolescence. She had been the first in her family to attend college and was a strong believer in education, teaching her sons to read from an early age and always promoting their efforts to discover and learn about the world. The boys’ upbringing included several years living on a farm in eastern Bartholomew County, reminiscent of her old home-place in Maryland, and she taught them to love and care for a variety of animal companions. She was active in their Cub Scout pack and in Scouting at the state level (Hoosier Trails Council) for a number of years.
When her children had grown to an age of some independence, she began work full-time at Columbus Regional Hospital. As a life-long member of the American Pharmacists’ Association she was intent on upholding the professional standards of her field, mentoring and supervising young pharmacists, and providing the best possible care for the patients she served.
In retirement Nancy and Dick enjoyed motorcycling trips ranging from short weekend outings to weeks-long excursions that took them to 49 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces. They sought out historical sites, local restaurants, quilt shops, and museums large and small. As part of the crew staffing Honda demo rides at rallies such as Daytona Bike Week, Honda Hoot, Sturgis, and Wing Ding they forged new friendships that they would continue on four wheels as they grew older.
Beyond all travels and adventures her greatest joy in retirement was family, always treasuring visits from the sons she had sent into the world.
In late 2012 she was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Joseph Taylor Sr. Joined in matrimony for fifty years, they are now reunited in eternal life. She is survived by her son Richard (Lynda) of Madison, Wisconsin, son William (Heidi) of Greenwood, Indiana, and by the memory of many friends and neighbors in the Columbus community and beyond.
A springtime memorial service is being planned and will be announced when ready. In lieu of flowers, the estate advises donations be made to Turning Point Domestic Violence Services.
Online condolences and special memories may be shared with the family at barkesweaverglick.com.
