Helen D. (Taylor) Skar

Helen D. (Taylor) Skar

November 25, 1933 – May 13, 2023

FAMILY RECEIVES FRIENDS: THURSDAY, May 18, 2023, 5:00-7:00PM. FUNERAL SERVICE: FRIDAY, May 19, 2023, 10:30AM, West Center Chapel. INTERMENT: Evergreen Cemetery.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Harvey Taylor Sr. and Helen P. Taylor; brothers Harvey Taylor, Jr. and Dennis Taylor; love of her life, John David Blackburn. She is survived by her daughters, Suzanne (Steven) Allison and Sandy (Ron) Walton; sister, Sherry Felton; brother, Dean Taylor; bonus daughter, Tracy Klabunde; bonus son, Tony Blackburn; grandchildren: Stuart Allison, Summer (Matt) Minchew, Justin and Jordan Tanga; bonus grandchildren: Cory (Bridget) Klabunde, Brittany (Carter) Anderson, Albert Michel, III (Jasmine), Stephanie (Rich) McClaws, Brett (Christine) and Bradley (Ali) Walton; great-grandchildren: Nathan and Nora Minchew and Charlotte Tanga; bonus great-grandchildren: Lillian and John Klabunde, Albert Michel IV, Ellie Michel, Brenden, Wesley, Carter, Lincoln and Paisley Walton, Makenzie and Riley McClaws; many nieces and nephews.

Helen was an amazing woman. She lived through the depression, World War II, and a pandemic. She loved her family, she always loved to talk about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She loved football. She was a huge Nebraska Cornhusker fan. She could tell you the name of every Husker that went pro and what team they played for. She was so passionate about the Huskers that she threw her youngest daughter off her lap during a great play for the 1972 championship. She loved to tell stories. She once met Liberace in the elevator of the Woodmen Tower. He offered her one of his rings, which she declined. She also met Jimmy Carter when he was running for President. He was handing out peanut pins with his name on them. When he got to her, he had run out of pins and took the pin off his lapel and placed it on hers. She still has that pin. She also used to feed the Italian prisoners of war left over food during the war. That’s just the kind of person she was. If you knew her, you loved her, and she loved you back. If she didn’t like you, you knew it. She did not mince words and told it like it was. She loved her Miller Light in a glass. She would not drink it out of the can. She loved to play keno and go to the casino. It wasn’t about winning money, to her it was a fun time. She used to love watching her grandson, Jordan play football for the Westside Warriors. She didn’t care if it was freezing cold out, she was going to watch that boy play! Someone once asked her what the secret to a long life was, her response, “A beer and a shot a day keeps the doctor away.” She wasn’t serious. She was just being funny. She loved to laugh and hang out with her extended family. She loved hanging out with her “Taylor Clan.” Truth be told I think they enjoyed hanging out with her too. You never knew what she was going to say. Her bonus grandson Bradley said she was his favorite old lady. She was everyone’s favorite. She always had a smile on her face and a story to tell. She was kind and compassionate. She was always willing to help someone out. She loved taking trips to Charlotte NC to visit her granddaughter Summer and her family. She would travel by herself like it was no big deal. She was quite independent. Nothing was going to slow her down. She was truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed by everyone.