Beatrice Rydalch Taylor

Beatrice Rydalch Taylor (Bea) gently passed early in the morning of October 5, 2023.  After almost two years she is now united with her husband of 69 years Cliff, her best friend and sister Ilene, her mother that she missed for years and countless other family and friends.

Born at her parent’s home during a snowstorm on the Egin Bench west of St. Anthony, Idaho, Beatrice came into the world in a hurry.  Her dad went for the doctor in Rexburg, but when they returned a baby girl had already arrived. Her grandmother Rydalch, who was there to help, always said that Bea was born in a hurry and has been in a hurry ever since.

Bea was the second of four children. She had an older brother, Laval, her younger sister of eighteen months, Ilene and a brother, Roger, much later.  She was raised in the same farmhouse she was born and spent her youth surrounded by family, cousins, farm animals and of course potatoes.  When she graduated from Edmunds High School, she originally wanted to go to beauty school, but her father gave her a better choice.  “You should go over there to Ricks College and learn to do something good with your life.” That changed everything.  She went to Ricks College and received her associate degree in elementary education. Afterward she moved to Pocatello to start her student teaching experience and met a young man by the name of Clifford Taylor.  The rest is history.

After the Korean Conflict, Bea and Cliff were married in the same house that Beatrice was born and after a small reception got in a 1948 Mercury Convertible and headed to Moscow, Idaho for Cliff to continue his education. The drive there and their life those first few years have become family legends. As Cliff completed his education, they became a family of four adding Jan Marie & Donald Clifford.

Over the course of Bea’s life, she, Cliff and their two children moved around the country with Cliff’s job with the Shell Oil Company.  Out of all the places Bea lived, she probably liked Houston, Texas the most.  Primarily because it was seldom cold. You rarely saw Bea without a sweater.  Later after retirement, Florida became a favorite place for them.

Bea loved teaching more than anything.  She taught elementary school for 32 years and loved reading to children and helping them learn.  As she put it, “To observe the look in a child’s eyes when one realized knowledge has been learned is an indescribable feeling”. Even now, we can all hear her read out loud “Little Pig”.  In 1972, she was awarded the Teacher of the Year in her school district in Texas and later (1975) was listed as one of the outstanding elementary teachers of America.

After their retirement Cliff and Bea moved to Farmington to be close to their aging parents in Idaho and their house quickly became home base for their family with both of their children now living in Utah.  Sunday dinners became a regular event.

During this time, Bea and Cliff traveled the world and enjoyed meeting new people and experiencing new things.  They took a lot of road trips around the country.  They served at the Ogden Temple and later served a mission at the Orlando Florida Temple as ordinance workers.

In addition to traveling and experiencing new things, Bea loved to shop and be with her three granddaughters.  She loved flowers and always had African violets in her kitchen. She loved anything red in color.  In the summer, she would eat fistfuls of cherries, tomatoes like an apple with salt, whole radishes, little green onions, lettuce with sugar, boiled cabbage, but when offered would never eat “ditch bank” (asparagus).

If asked by those that knew her what words best describe Bea, her loved ones would use words like: feisty, impulsive, educator, stubborn, in-charge, fun, inquisitive and many others.  She will be missed by many.

Bea is survived by daughter Jan Marie (Steve) Clark, son Don (Sonja) Taylor, her grandchildren Emily (Josh) Harker, Ashley (Greg) Moore, Natalie (Kelly) Bigelow and her great grandchildren Kennedy, Owen, Jack, Kate and Taylor.

Our family would like to offer special appreciation to Rylie Poole and all of the Angels who live, work and serve at Covington Assisted Living.

Bea will be remembered Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 2:30 PM at a graveside service in the Farmington City Cemetery.