Edna
Diane
Taylor
(Cross
)
Born September 18, 1933, Edna Diane Taylor, known as Diane, was the oldest daughter of Jack and Edna Cross. She lived with her brother, Gage, and her sisters, Pamela, Florence and Mary, in the big house at 163 Upper Mountain Avenue in Upper Montclair New Jersey. The Cross family spent their summers in Sea Girt where Diane developed her love for the ocean, the beach and the Jersey Shore lifestyle. She attended Mt. Saint Dominic Academy High School and set a high standard for all future family athletes by leading the girls basketball team in four undefeated seasons. She attended St. Mary's college in South Bend Indiana for two years, but transferred and obtained her nursing degree from St. Vincent's hospital in Greenwich Village New York. In 1957 she married U.S. air force pilot Louis N. Taylor, also of Montclair, and moved to Nellis Air Force base in Nevada where he was stationed. She quickly decided that both the desert, and military life, were not for her. In 1958, she and Lou relocated to Spring Lake, New Jersey. Diane spent the rest of her life at the sea shore.
Family came first for Diane and she was a devoted mother to her seven children. She ran an organized household with set days for shopping, housework and laundry, and everyone in the neighborhood knew that dinner was at six. She would sometimes literally ring a dinner bell in case anyone lost track of time. She was actively involved in all aspects of her children's lives. If anyone needed a cub scout or brownie troop leader, a class parent, a card party chair, or a special prizes chairperson for the Candlelight ball, Diane was quick to volunteer. A life-long athlete and competitor, Diane was always the number one supporter of any activity from basketball and cheerleading, to track, baseball, and swimming. When the town introduced soccer for boys in the 1970s, she thought it was a great sport and helped establish a girls league the following season. Later, when two of her daughters wanted to play little league, she helped organize the softball division and stepped up to coach. As her children grew she continued to support them in all their efforts. She was always willing to listen, to offer advice (i.e., tell you what you should do), and lend a hand. No problem was ever too big for her to tackle, and if money was an issue, well, she could always sell her IBM shares.
As a mother Diane set an example that was hard to match. However, as a grandmother she was without peer. Although she set strict rules for her children, she had absolutely no qualms about spoiling her twenty-two grandchildren. Nan, or Grandma, did not really know the meaning of the word "no" and her house was affectionately, sometimes exasperatingly, known as "the land of yes." Her house was full of toys, her kitchen full of treats, and her pocketbook full of starburst candy. She planned adventure days at parks, zoos, or other kid friendly destinations which always included a souvenir, fast food lunch, and ice cream or candy, sometimes (usually) both. Each of her grandchildren was the smartest, best-looking and most talented person in any situation or during any activity. If a grandchild's team was losing a game, it was because the referee or the ump was biased toward the other team. Any coach that did not recognize her grandchild's talent, and any teammate that did not carry their weight, was written off as a dodo-head. At no time was her love for her family more obvious than Christmas morning when her entire living room would be filled with presents for each and every one of her children, their spouses, her grandchildren and their spouses, and her great grandchildren. As a grandmother, Diane was the G.O.A.T.
Diane's love for her family was equaled by her love of the Church, her country and her community. A daily communicant for most of her life, she was a regular at 6:45 mass. Her schedule of devotion was almost as predictable as her household routine - daily mass, adoration on Mondays, rosary on Sunday, the St. Anne novena, and endless novenas to St. Jude for any of her children's problems big or small. She was an active member of the Dominican Third Order, and a supporter of missionaries throughout the world. Her own most important mission was serving as a Eucharistic Minister at Jersey Shore Medical Center. Diane organized volunteers at the hospital who delivered Holy Communion to the sick. She herself never missed hospital duty on Thursdays and Sundays. She was a complete patriot who truly believed in the greatness of America, and was a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. More locally, she supported her community by helping to organize events like the town’s Big Sea Day, and serving for years as a volunteer on the Spring Lake First Aid Squad.
Anyone who knew Diane will appreciate that one of defining characteristics was her sense of fun and adventure. She called her fun self Sally, and Sally was a blast. As a mom, she was the one who planned bike rides, or outings to the skating rink, the bowling alley, the movies or Great Adventure. Even when grown, her children were expected to join in on her adventure days with the grandkids at especially for her trips to the waterslide in the summer. She truly refused to accept any limits. She once committed to a ski weekend without actually knowing how to ski. She eventually learned and loved making her wide "la-la" turns on the green trails at Stratton Mountain. She travelled, went white water rafting, and hiked mountains despite a fear of heights. She was fiercely competitive and for years played paddle tennis in both local and state-level conferences. It was well understood that if there was a family gathering, big or small, there would be a competition. Softball games on Father's Day, the legendary soccer game on Thanksgiving, and the sprint- triathlons, or volley-ball, or beach relays at her birthday celebrations are the more well-known events, but really no family party was complete without a water balloon toss or a tug of war. Her love of life, and her will to live it fully, was so strong, that after a diagnosis of stage four cancer at age 76 it took 12 years to slow her down.
Diane is pre-deceased by her parents, her older brother Gage, and her husband of 60 years Lou Taylor. She is survived by her children: Louis Taylor, Mary Quiroz, Helen Sullivan, Amy White, Justin Taylor, Beth Taylor and Bernadette Taylor, 22 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and at least two great grandchildren in progress.
Viewing will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2022 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at O'Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Hwy 35, Wall. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Friday, April 22nd at 10:30 a.m. at St. Catharine's RC Church, Spring Lake followed by the interment at St. Anne's Cemetery, Wall.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dominican Nuns, Monastery of Our Lady of Grace (click here to donate) or the Dominican Friars Foundation (click here to donate).