Ann Arnold Schoolar Taylor

Ann Arnold Schoolar Taylor was welcomed into the arms of her Savior on June 16, 2024. She was a ceaselessly caring and selfless wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend. She loved deeply, with a loyalty and abundance that touched everyone she knew. Her dedication to Christ shone daily through her every kind word, good deed, and warm smile. Her door was always open, her phone always on, table always full, and arms always open to those in need of advice, wisdom, or comfort. She was a soft place to land and the very safest place for all who loved her, and her loss is deeply felt by her family, friends, and church community.

Born on May 4, 1947, Ann Taylor was a lifelong Biloxian. She graduated from Biloxi High School in 1965, after which she attended Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. While working as a receptionist at First Baptist Church of Biloxi, she met her husband of 57 years, James “Jim” Henry Taylor, with whom she joyfully welcomed two children, James Paul Taylor and Janice Kathryn Taylor. The quintessential matriarch, Ann devoted her life to the care and Christ-centered upbringing of her 2 children and 6 grandchildren.

Ann is preceded in death by her father and mother, Bembury Bonn “BB” Schoolar and Midgett Arnold Schoolar, and is survived by her husband, James “Jim” Taylor; her sister, Sally Schoolar Curd (Stanley); her son, James Paul Taylor; her daughter, Janice Taylor Stewart (Scott); her grandchildren, Wesleigh Taylor Wright (Randy), Abigail Taylor Pugh (John), Molly Taylor Kolker (Mark), Maya Elizabeth Taylor, Isaiah James Taylor, and Titan Taylor; and her great-grandchildren, John “Jack” Michael Pugh, Lucy Wells Wright, Elizabeth “Lily” Ann Pugh, and Lyla Kathryn Kolker. 

While Ann’s family and friends are devastated and unmoored by this tremendous loss, comfort is found in the knowledge that she is reunited with her parents and her Heavenly Father in perfect peace. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that you donate to Light of Hope Mississippi via the First Baptist Church of Biloxi’s Celebrate Recovery group (https://www.fbcbiloxi.org/celebraterecovery. Checks payable to “FBC Biloxi Celebrate Recovery” in memory of Ann Taylor) in honor of her lifetime church membership and her dedication to the care and uplifting of others. 

Ann Taylor’s funeral service will take place at First Baptist Church of Biloxi on Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 1 pm, with a visitation immediately preceding the service for family and friends from 11 am - 1 pm. Interment will follow at Biloxi City Cemetery.

Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Ann Arnold Schoolar Taylor.