Mary Helen Taylor

Mary Helen Daniels Taylor, 84, long-time Mesilla resident, passed away at her home Wednesday, January 10, 2007. She was born in 1922 in El Paso, Texas, the child of Albert and Mamie Daniels. Mary Taylor graduated from El Paso High School in 1940, and earned her bachelor's degree from Texas College of Mines, now the University of Texas-El Paso, in 1943. She was a second grade teacher at Zack White Elementary School, and taught history at Bowie High School in El Paso. After her marriage to J. Paul Taylor in 1945, Mary Taylor was an English instructor at New Mexico State University in 1946 and 1947. Taylor is survived by her beloved husband of 61 years, Former Representative J. Paul Taylor; her children Robert Milton Taylor and wife, Sherry of Mesilla, Mary Dolores Taylor of Mesilla, Michael Romero Taylor and wife, Gail of Santa Fe, Mary Helen Ratje and husband, Jim of Mesilla, Maggie Taylor of Escondida, Albert Patrick Taylor and wife, Wendy of Mesilla, and Rosemary Stolberg and husband, Tom of Raytown, Missouri. She was preceded in death by a son, John Paul Taylor Jr. of Escondida, who died in 2004. Also surviving Mary Taylor are her grandchildren: Lucas Taylor, Robby Taylor, Isaac Taylor-Wise, Lindsey Taylor-Wise, Lee Taylor, Brooke Ratje, Paul Ratje, Pablo Taylor, Maria Elena Taylor, Dustin Taylor, Matthew Taylor, Rebecca Stolberg, Michael Stolberg, Hannah Stolberg, Mark Stolberg, Joshua Stolberg, and Christopher Stolberg; and her great-grandchildren: Ethan Taylor, Connor Ratje, Ayden Shannon, and Evan Taylor. Mary Daniels Taylor had a life-long devotion to family, church, history, and the arts. Mary and Paul Taylor moved to Mesilla in 1947 and in 1951, they purchased property on the west side of the Mesilla plaza where the historic family home is still located. Her contributions to the region as an historian, paleographer and archivist for the Diocese of Las Cruces made her a leading authority on the history of southern New Mexico. Her perspective on the area history was unique in that she researched primary documents from Mexican archives over the past fifty years that provide previously unknown information on the Mesilla Valley and New Mexico. Mary Taylor was responsible for the microfilming of the Durango Archives in Mexico dealing with the history of southern New Mexico, now available to researchers at the Rio Grande Historical Collections at NMSU. She, along with her long-time friend and working partner, Nona Barrick who passed away last month, co-authored a book titled A Place as Wild as the West Ever Was, Mesilla, New Mexico, 1848-1872. Mary received many awards over the years recognizing her research, writings and contributions through primary source investigations of which includes the Hall of Fame Award from the Dona Ana County Historical Society, Catholic History Award from the Catholic Conference of Texas, and the Heritage Preservation Award "in recognition of lifetime achievement in historical research and historic preservation". She, with her husband, was awarded the Paso por Aqu