Betty Jane Fuller Taylor

Betty Jane Fuller Taylor (Age 96)

Passed away peacefully on May 7 of natural causes. Betty was a long-time resident of McLean, Virginia, before moving to Goodwin House in Falls Church in late 2017. Betty was born in Roanoke, Virginia, to parents Burke and Ruby B. Hall Fuller. She was predeceased by her husband of 43 years, Hale H. Taylor, as well as a brother, Burke R. Fuller, Jr.; brother Elmer C. Turner, Jr.; and sister Patti Lou Lorenz. She is survived by sister Jo Ann Turner Lumsden of Raleigh, North Carolina; brother Thomas E. Turner of Roanoke, Virginia; and numerous nieces and nephews.

            Betty took great pride in her Virginia roots and Southern upbringing and cherished her home city of Roanoke, the nearby Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains, and especially the Blue Ridge Parkway, which her beloved engineer husband Hale helped create. She also had a special fondness for her “home away from home,” Highlands, North Carolina, and its surrounding misty mountains and charming waterfalls. She was a lover of nature, and nature best showed its beauty to Betty with native flowers and flitting butterflies.

            Betty’s principal passion, however, was flower arranging, particularly Japanese flower arranging as expressed through the highly disciplined Japanese art of ikebana. This passion culminated in her being the first American awarded Grand Master status in the Ohara School of Ikebana, Kobe, Japan, in May 2011. In addition to five ikebana study tour trips to Japan—where she was often honored—Betty devoted 50 years to sharing her love of Japanese flower arranging by teaching, lecturing, and hosting seminars for countless groups from New York to Florida and as far west as Montana. From 1992 to 2016, Betty was a Resident Artist and Teaching Master at the Stone Lantern in Highlands, NC. Betty served four terms as President of the Ohara School, Washington, DC Chapter. She also served as President of Ikebana International, Washington, DC Chapter 1.

            A memorial service for Betty will be held at an undetermined later date at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington. Inurnment along with her husband Hale Taylor will be held in Sherwood Cemetery, Salem, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the “Friends of the National Arboretum,” care of the U.S. National Arboretum, Washington, DC, for the purpose of increasing the collection of plants in the Peony Garden.

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