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Her Life

Obituary January 2022 to be distributed to several newspapers, alumnae newsletters, etc

January 15, 2022
Paulett Long Taggart died peacefully on January 12, 2022 at Carleton-Willard Village in Bedford, Mass. Born June 23, 1922 in Richmond, Virginia to Harriett “Hattie” Paulett Long and Raymond Victor Long, Paulett developed a life-long love of Virginia while growing up in Richmond with her beloved older brother Raymond. Paulett’s dramatic instincts were recognized and encouraged by her mother at an early age, and by age three Paulett was already performing, reciting poetry while standing on the living room coffee table, followed by her acting in her first play at age five.

During high school at St Catherine’s School, Paulett continued to develop as an actress, with leading roles such as Rosalyn (As You Like It), and Queen Guinevere. At Sweet Briar College she majored in Drama, where she performed her favorite role as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing before graduating in 1944. A Stanislavski quote she learned at Sweet Briar became a guiding principle for Paulett’s acting career and life: “Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.”

At Sweet Briar, Paulett met her husband, Ganson Powers Taggart, who was training in Virginia after enlisting in the U.S. Navy.They were married in Richmond in 1945 and subsequently moved to San Diego, CA where Ganson was stationed as a naval officer.

In 1947, Paulett and Ganson decided to settle in Winchester, MA where they raised three daughters and owned a home until 2006.From 1965 to 1970, they moved their family overseas to The Hague in the Netherlands.Both in Winchester and in The Hague, in addition to raising her three daughters, Paulett was very active as a volunteer in the community, especially in the theater realm, but also in other areas such as at the Winchester Hospital and Unitarian church, and as the President of the American Women’s Club in the Hague. Her theater involvement included many acting roles in Winchester Unitarian Society plays; performing in community benefits such as the annual Winton Club Show; and teaching creative dramatics and directing plays at both elementary and high school levels.

After her return to Winchester in 1970, she pursued her interest in teaching drama first with graduate work at Emerson College, then with her mentor Saphira (then Barbara) Linden of the Theater Workshop Boston, and finally launching her own program, the Winchester Drama Workshop. Through the Winchester Drama Workshop, Paulett taught classes in improvisational acting and other creative dramatic skills to middle school students and yoga to seniors in the newly opened Jenks Senior Center. Her innovative yoga class involved the introduction of other mind/body practices as well, such as meditation, Pilates, Feldenkrais, and Reiki healing. Taught by Paulett until her mid-80’s, her Jenks Center class had a devoted following and continues to this day. Paulett was also very involved at her UU church, including helping to develop lay-led services as part of the Worship Committee.

When Paulett and Ganson moved to Carleton Willard Village in Bedford, MA in 2006, she continued her drama activities acting in productions of the Carleton Willard Village Players and organizing weekly thespian social dinners. When asked at age 92 if she’d enjoyed being in the recent Carleton-Willard play, she responded, “I enjoy it more than anything else!” In addition to involvement in the theater, Paulett was a Reiki healing practitioner, gardener, and gracious hostess.

Paulett lived her life with a strong, determined spirit and courageous optimism which helped her keep moving forward despite life’s challenges. She was a deeply loving and devoted mother, helping her three daughters to pursue and cultivate their own interests and talents. She was dedicated to extended family as well, hosting many family gatherings, and as “Aunt Paulett,” making regular visits to her brother, nieces and nephew in Florida and Virginia a priority.

Paulett was predeceased by her husband Ganson (2007) and brother Raymond (2013). Paulett is survived by her three daughters: Harriett “Tee” Taggart (Jack Turner) of Cambridge, MA; Paulett Long Taggart (William Stout), of San Francisco, CA; and Cori V.C. Taggart of Eugene, OR., as well as her two grandchildren, two great grandchildren, and her nieces and nephew.

Anderson-Bryant Funeral Home of Stoneham, Mass. is handling the cremation arrangements, and a private interment service will be held at the Eastwood Cemetery in Lancaster, Mass.

A Celebration of Life Service has been scheduled for Saturday, June 18th at 2:00pm at the Winchester Unitarian church 478 Main St, Winchester, MA.

Online condolences may be posted at Forever Missed https://www.forevermissed.com/.Enter Taggart” in the Find a Memorial box and click on Paulett Taggart to enter your tribute or memory.

In lieu of flowers, contributions
may be made to the Winchester Unitarian Society (478 Main St.; Winchester, MA 01890).

Paulett - a song written by her nephew Doug Long in 2002 to honor her 80th birthday

January 3, 2022
Part 1: verses 1-5 plus chorus
She was born in the roaring 20's, below the Mason Dixon line
She and her brother Raymond Victor were raised in a simpler time
The ice man drove through Richmond streets upon a horse drawn rig
And the movies still were silent when she was just a kid

The Wall Street crash brought hard times on, for some an austere life
She was forming her opinions in those times of social strife
St. Catherine's helped to school her for the rest as yet to come
Then the world began to simmer, and soon it would come undone

The forties were time of horrid storm as warfare reigned supreme
"Peace in our time" was the plea but it remained a dream
But all was not so awfully grim at Sweet Briar college life
'Cause she met a man named Ganson Taggart, and she became his wife

She said fifties were like oyster years, grab hold and try to grow
Three girls in close succession, no spare time did she know
There was a hot and humid Texas town in the years before A/C
She was building, always building, for the sake of family

Bridge (like a chorus, but sung only twice):
Warren Harding was the president when she first saw the light
Mr. Lindbergh had yet to make his lonely ocean flight
The changes of the twentieth century have swirled at a furious pace
As she's tried just as best she could to make the world a better place

Mr. Dylan said the times were a changing, it seems that it was true
As they moved across the wide Atlantic Ocean, Paulett and her crew
The Badger corporation needed them in the land where tulips bloom
And to top it all off in '69, a man walked upon the moon

 (see following "Part 2" for remaining verses in this song tribute)

Paulett - a song written by her nephew Doug Long in 2002 in honor of her 80th birthday

January 3, 2022
Part 2 (verses 6-9 plus chorus refrain)

The America she returned to was changed in numerous ways
Her girls had all left the nest to live their grownup days
But friends and a new kind of Boston theatre kept her more than satisfied
And she enjoyed New Hampshire's snowy trails and the Cape Ann salty tide

Now she became a grandma, a boy and then a girl
Trips to see her West Coast daughters earned many a bonus smile
The drama workshop of Winchester Mass did well by her hand
And her spiritual journey wed East and West, she became a Sufitarian

The last decade of the twentieth century saw her moving most all the time
She cheered her grandkids sports events, come rain or come shine
She checked up on brother Raymond, in Floridas fabulous Keys
And enjoyed siestas with her daughters cooled by the Mexican breeze

So now we're in a new millenium, we all survived Y2K
It didn't take long for old man trouble to try to spoil our day
But we will survive and press right on I expect we can agree
So let's give thanks she's touched our lives we are Paulett's family

repeat Bridge from Part 1, above
Warren Harding was the president when she first saw the light
Mr. Lindbergh had yet to make his lonely ocean flight
The changes of the twentieth century have swirled at a furious pace
As she's tried just as best she could to make the world a better place