TAYLOR, Mary-Agnes

Professor Emerita Mary-Agnes Taylor, 94, died August 15, 2015, at her home in Austin, Texas.

She was born September 8, 1920, in Llano, Texas, to Emil and Mathilda Pehl. At the age of four she so doggedly followed her siblings to school that her parents paid tuition so that she could begin public school early, graduate from high school at 16, and from Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College at 19. She taught high school in Yokum, Texas, before marrying fellow San Marcos alum and naval officer George Taylor, in 1942. Following World War II, George stayed i n the Navy and they lived i n Guam, Japan, San Francisco and Washington D.C. George retired from the Navy in 1966 and they returned to their Texas roots.

Soon thereafter, she was recruited to teach at her Alma mater, then Southwest Texas State University, in the Department of English. She spearheaded the development of the school’s curriculum in Children’s Literature and taught its first graduate course in the subject. In a career spanning 24 years, her scholarly publications helped establish the specialization of Children’s Literature nationally. In 2008 the school, now Texas State University, presented her with its Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

Following her retirement in 1991, she began writing poetry, becoming a patron and lifetime member of the Austin Poetry Society. Her works were published in numerous journals.

Survivors include her children, son Dr. Ashley Taylor, daughter Aliene Pylant, daughter Theresa Bayer and son-in-law Kenneth Bayer, and son Dr. Lee Taylor; grandchildren, JT, Christa and her husband Pasha, Jeff and his wife Kelly, Lindsay and her husband Mark, William, Georganne, Emily and Alana; and great-grandchildren, Joey, Noah, Daniel and Cameron.

Always the English professor, her grandchildren knew her as Grammar”, and she regularly corrected her visitor’s sentences until just before her death. She was happy with her full and productive life, though she had hoped to live to see the election of a woman US president. Remembering the challenges of attending college during the great depression prompted her to establish a scholarship in her name at Texas State University, where remembrances may be directed.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Capt. George P Taylor USNR, and will be interred with him at the National Cemetery Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.