Ilah Maxine Taylor, 90, a longtime Baker City resident, died Aug. 30, 2007, at her home after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease.
There will be no formal funeral or public memorial.
Ilah was born at Genesee, Idaho, to Howard O. Wiswell and Hazel Garber Wiswell and moved to Haines at an early age. She graduated from Haines High School and the Baker Business College.
While attending school, she worked for her father at the Haines Telephone Co. Later, before marrying, she went to work for the AAA program under Phil Fortner, county agent.
In 1938, she married James “Jim” Baker and helped run Baker’s Super Market until she started Ilah’s Antiques. Jim died in 1978. She married Leslie F. Taylor in 1984.
Ilah was a charter member of Chapter CJ PEO, a member of the First Lutheran Church, the Baker County Museum and the Sumpter Valley Railroad. Her antique store, Ilah’s Antiques, was one of the first antique stores in Baker City.
Ilah loved to work with her hands as her beautiful china painting, sewing, embroidery, knitting and cross-stitchings testify. Her gorgeous African violets were her pride and joy. She also enjoyed the outdoors, spending time at “the cabin,” and traveling. But, most of all she loved and doted on her husband and family.
Ilah’s beautiful smile, laughter, and ever-present graciousness will be sorely missed, her family said.
Survivors include her husband of 23 years, Leslie Taylor; a son, Mike Baker; a daughter, Judy Baker; granddaughters, Elizabeth Haswell, and her husband, Greg Jensen, and Christine Haswell and her husband, Steve Zuk; a stepdaughter, Dianna Reeve, and her husband, Gary Reeve; and a stepgranddaughter, Heather Leavell, and her husband, Dan Leavell.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the charity of one’s choice through Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, September 6, 2007
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor