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Dr. William “Bill” Kelly Taylor, 93, of Macon, passed away peacefully on Friday, January 22, 2021 at Carlyle Place. A small memorial service for friends and family will be held Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 1 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church Memorial Garden. The family will receive guests at the home front porch on Orange Street from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. COVID safety requires everyone to wear a mask, wash their hands, and watch their distance on both occasions. We will be outside in both places and the weather looks agreeable. Flowers are accepted or donations may be made to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Christ Church in Macon, or Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans.
Bill was born in Walnut Grove, Mississippi on July 24, 1927. His family moved to Raymond soon after, where his parents, W.P. and Dora Taylor, were building a home. Bill and his late sister, Rosa, spent the rest of their adolescence in Raymond, and considered it their hometown. Throughout her life, Rosa maintained a home in Raymond. At a young age, Bill listened to music on a neighbor’s phonograph, prompting his lifelong love of classical music. Lily Plum “Plumie” Oaks, who lived across the street before moving in with the Taylors, cared for Bill like a second mother, read him poetry, and instilled in him a deep appreciation for the rhythm of language. She was a teacher at Raymond Consolidated School. Bill held onto his college poetry textbooks through his last years. He assisted his piano teacher in decorating the stage for piano recitals, and her preference always tended toward a “forest primeval” backdrop with live foliage, which he would recall with laughter. As his passion for classical music matured, he spent almost all his free time listening to it and learning the art. In high school, his family exiled him to a bedroom over the garage to listen to his music as loud and long as he wished. His love of music is also what drew him to join the Episcopal Church, specifically his affinity for its lyrical liturgy and musical traditions.
Bill took courses at Hines Community College in Raymond during high school where he earned almost two years’ worth of credit before graduation. Bill then attended the University of Alabama and pledged the brotherhood of Delta Sigma Phi. Drafted, he joined the Navy as a medic in WWII serving in Jacksonville and Key West, FL. Honorably discharged after V-E Day, Bill returned to Tuscaloosa and graduated in 1948 with a B.S. in biology. Realizing he would not make a career of his first avocation, music, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, Dr. Arthur Kelly, and uncle, Dr. Norman Kelly, and to explore the art of medicine instead, attending the University of Mississippi Medical School for his first two years. He completed his studies at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, the city that he would treasure for the rest of his life.
Bill is preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Smith. The couple met in New Orleans where Beth was working as a music librarian. Bill frequented the library for records in the beginning and soon after to see Beth. They spent many days listening to the music of their souls and falling in love. The couple lived in Terry, Mississippi where their daughter Jennifer was born. Bill worked as a family doctor in the small town to repay the State of Mississippi for his medical education.
The family moved to North Carolina where Bill completed his specialty training in anesthesiology at Duke University. He always said, “It is easy to put someone to sleep, but the true art is to wake them back up.” Beth and Bill settled in New Orleans when Bill took a position at Southern Baptist Hospital in 1958. He became a partner with New Orleans Anesthesia Associates and retired in 1991.
Their two daughters, Jennifer and Elizabeth were born in 1954 and 1958, respectively. Beth and Bill were active members of New Orleans’s Christ Church Cathedral. They both served in many ministries, leadership roles, and as choir members. Sharing a passion for opera, Beth and Bill were also members of the New Orleans Opera Association, hosting parties for rising opera stars in their home. The Metropolitan Opera National Council asked them to direct the Gulf Coast Regional auditions. This volunteer job lasted over a decade and allowed them to exhibit encouragement and support for young singers. Opera led them to travel the world, visiting many opera houses, favoring Wagner’s “Bayreuth Festsphielhaus” Opera House in Germany, which they visited several times. Notably, Beth and Bill would sit for almost 24 hours to see two entire Wagner Ring Cycles—four complete operas—in German and then in English. Beth and Bill attended their favorite music festivals in England, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States. Started when he was 13, Bill’s collection of records grew every year. A true audiophile, he will be remembered as the man who considered his sound system to be an extension of his ears.
Always social and engaged in New Orleans culture, Bill joined the Krewe of Dorians, where both daughters and three granddaughters were presented as maids of the Royal Court. Beth and Bill were famous for their lively family Mardi Gras day parties. Beth and Bill’s home on Napoleon Avenue was the perfect post for viewing Mardi Gras parades under live oak trees. They hosted hundreds of guests with Bloody Marys, Gibsons, and King Cake. A huge fan of New Orleans cuisine, Bill’s favorites included fried oyster po’boys from Domilise's, Central Grocery muffulettas, wine deliveries from Martin Wine Cellar, and Creole meals at Galatoire's on Bourbon Street. His love of French led him to perform with the La Comédie Française theatre group of New Orleans. Bill proudly claimed to speak French with a Mississippi accent.
In 2005, three months before Hurricane Katrina, Beth and Bill packed up their memories and belongings to move to Macon, Georgia to be closer to family, Jennifer and her husband, Tony Long Sr., and grandchildren. The move from their home of 40 years, was a huge undertaking and they felt a sense of loss of their beloved city, made more poignant by the devastation of the hurricane. Beth and Bill lived independently at Carlyle, in an apartment meticulously outfitted to meet their listening standards, of course. Their passions followed them, and they regularly listened to Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts (Bill could forever name singers by their voices). Faithful patrons, Beth and Bill also attended Metropolitan Opera live streamed performances at the Galleria Mall and Douglass Theatre. Beth and Bill tuned into Sunday services at Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans. Bill maintained this tradition even through COVID isolation, listening every week for friends’ readings or for the prayer list.
Bill is survived by daughters Jennifer Taylor Long (Tony Sr.) and Elizabeth Taylor, M.D. (Hanns Courtright) of Thibodaux, LA; grandchildren Tony Long Jr. (Michael Stewart) of Macon, GA, Jennifer Ann Long (Erich Ohrenschall) of Decatur, GA, Christy Long Robinson (Matthew) of West End, NC, and Kate Long (Keaton Williams) of Athens, GA; great grandchildren Everett, Tristan, and Naomi; niece and nephew Robin Crossland and Scott Russell; grandniece and grandnephews Crews, Ryan, Mary Elizabeth, and Matthew; cousins Jackie Gould Dufield of Henderson, NV, Jeanie Gould Hooper of Brewster, MA, and Virginia Kelly Vail of Pensacola, FL.
Please visit www.hartsmort.com to express condolences.
Hart’s Mortuary and Cremation Center, 765 Cherry St., Macon, GA 31201 has charge of the arrangements.
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