Obituary of Reba Ruth Taylor

Reba Ruth Taylor
September 26, 1950 - April 23, 2022

Reba Ruth Taylor, 71, passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, April 23, 2022, in Forest, Virginia following a long struggle with Frontotemporal Degeneration dementia.  Reba was born September 26, 1950, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Sallye Childress Taylor and John Fleming Taylor.

She grew up in Martinsville, Virginia, and was a 1968 graduate of Martinsville High School and a 1972 graduate of Emory & Henry College.

Reba began a more than 45-year career teaching Gifted and Advance Placement classes in math, computer science, and French at Castlewood High School in Russell County, Virginia.  She went on to teach at G.W. Carver and Magna Vista High Schools in Henry County and in Montgomery County at various middle schools, Christiansburg High School, and for more than 30 years Blacksburg High School.  She was also a graduate teaching assistant in Computer Science at Virginia Tech.  Reba loved teaching and loved her students and as she put it, “watching learning take place as the ‘light bulbs turned on.’”

Reba also loved her church family at Blacksburg United Methodist, loved to knit and crochet, and loved her many “kitty-cats” over the years.

Reba is survived by her brothers Jim and Jeff, their families, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends.  The family would also like to thank Reba’s special friend Libby Pettigrew and her loving, compassionate caretaker Vicky Litchford.

A graveside service at Oakwood Cemetery in Martinsville will be held at a later date.

Her brothers request that you spend a little more time with loved ones and dear friends, hugging them often.  And when dementia cruelly strikes someone you love, go out of your way to make their life as uncomplicated and comfortable as possible.

Diuguid Waterlick Chapel is serving the family.