May Goody Taylor

May (Goody) Taylor passed away peacefully on April 11th. In five more days, she would have celebrated her 93rd birthday. May was born in Oakland, the 7th of 8 children, and was only 6 years of age when her father died. Her mother moved the family to Santa Cruz to raise the kids in a small town. May attended Gault School, Branciforte Junior High and graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1950; working at Ruth’s Hamburger Stand at the Boardwalk while she was a high school student. May met Clyde Taylor through her next-door neighbor, George Taylor, Clyde’s older brother. George and his wife took May with them to a family picnic in the redwoods at Gazos Creek where the Taylor family had a logging operation. On December 31, 1949, May and Clyde were married in a double wedding ceremony with her sister Betty and Clyde’s best friend Homer. Clyde went into business as Clyde Taylor Excavation with a dump truck, tractor, and May as his secretary/bookkeeper. Along with their excavating business, Clyde and May raised their two daughters, Cathy and Carol and built five houses. They were married for 67 years before Clyde preceded her in death in 2017. May loved sewing clothes for her daughters, keeping a very clean home, cooking, gardening, decorating for the holidays and taking care of her grandchildren. She and Clyde also loved to travel by RV throughout the western states. May was also preceded in death by her parents Norman and Freida Goody, and six of her siblings: Florence, Harold, Chester, Betty, Donald and Ralph Goody. Her younger brother Paul; her daughters Cathy Turpen and Carol Newberry and their husbands survive her. She also leaves her beloved grandchildren Tracy, Evan, Taylor, and great grandchildren: Teague, Thoren, and Tobin. The family would like to thank the staff at Hanover Guest Home and Hospice of Santa Cruz for their loving care of May in her final year. May will be laid to rest with a private interment beside her husband Clyde at Holy Cross Cemetery.