Patricia E Taylor

Patricia Eileen Taylor, Dorius, Herrera

Wife, Mother, Sister, Grandma, Aunt, Friend, and Life of the Party

Born July 21, 1944 -- Los Angeles, California

Died August 5, 2022 -- Tucson, Arizona

Patricia (Patty) Eileen Taylor, Dorius, Herrera, wife of David Aguirre Herrera, and mother of David Easton Dorius, Daniel Anderson Dorius (06/02/1966-09/01/2000), Dana Diane Bowen, and Dolly Sue Johnson, passed away at home in Tucson, Arizona on Friday, August 5th, 2022.

Now that she is joining her beloved parents, Jared Anderson Taylor and Evelyn Marie (Martin) Taylor along with her younger sister Tamra (Tammy) Sue Watson and her dear son Danny in heaven, she is leaving behind the love of her life, David Herrera, as well as her three surviving children and 13 grandchildren. Her dear sisters Jerrie Marie Jorgensen, Dawna Lee Jones, Karolyn Evelyn Eckmann, and Joyce Diane ( Jody ) Cooper all survive Patty as well.

Patty was always larger than life. She once told her daughter Dolly that she took every opportunity she could to celebrate, because life was just worth celebrating. With a terrifically competitive nature, she was always ready to engage in a light-hearted game of Skip-Bo, Hearts, Mexican Train, Tripoley or Phase-10. Patty was an avid reader of mystery novels, passionate about politics, loved to dance and was an amazing artist as well. She and her love, David Herrera, enjoyed travelling the world together. They spent 13 wonderful months in Saudi Arabia in 1997 to early 1998 and enjoyed travelling throughout the Middle East and parts of Europe. While on a cruise up the Nile, fellow travelers flocked to David and Patty’s table at dinner because Patty was so fun to be with and made everyone happy.

Patty graduated High School from Downey High School in Downey, California in 1963.

She received an AA degree from Fullerton College in 1988.

Later, Patty went on to obtain her bachelor’s degree in business management from Azusa Pacific University in 1996. During that same time period she was working full-time at Northrop Grumman in Southern California. The completion of her thesis for graduation involved a survey of Northrop Grumman employees along with statistical analysis of this employee data, all of which bore company wide implications. For her efforts, the management at Northrop Grumman recognized Patty as Employee of the Quarter, a significant accomplishment amongst so many gifted and brilliant employees.

Patty was gifted in too many ways to list. Just some of her talents included bargain shopping, arts and crafts with a flair for the flowery and the ornate. She was a skilled painter, an excellent cook, a gifted organizer of large group gatherings and an awesome grandma to her 13 grandkids. She was known for her infectious “can-do,” positive attitude and made everyone around her smile.

Patty loved holidays! Not only did she decorate her home and dress accordingly for each holiday, she always went out of her way to send special goodies and packages every holiday to her many friends and family. All her grandkids knew to look in the mail for a special package from their Grandma Patty just before each holiday. Furthermore, whenever she hosted a party or had someone visit, she was known to bestow on them a party-favor or two. She always knew how to make the ordinary truly extraordinary.

In her earlier years, she was a snow skier, swimmer, diver, 5K runner, dancer of the Charleston, and first runner up in the Miss Downy Beauty Contest. Anyone who had the immense privilege of knowing Patty Taylor also knew she was a poodle lady. As we all know dogs have a special place in heaven with their humans, Patty is probably jumping up and down with her dear little Pearlie-Whirl right now, and this time she doesn’t need supplemental oxygen.

Patty also collected dolls and Teddy Bears with her sisters and mother and enjoyed going to doll conventions with them over the years. One of her favorite things to do, though, was to write love poems to her husband David Herrera. David has been heard to say that Patty decorated everything so beautifully, including his life. She truly was his angel. He misses her sorely and imagines she's flying with the angels.

We can almost hear our dearly departed Patty (Grandma Patty or Patty Cake) say to each of us collectively, “Sit down here with me, get the games out, and let’s play.” We’re all going to miss you more than you can know, Patty. Rest in Peace until we meet again at the pleasing bar of God.

*As her grand-daughter Olivia Bowen said, “This isn’t goodbye, but simply a ‘see you later, alligator.'”