Helping others was her goal

Anna Marie Taylor of North Aurora always tried to make people laugh, and she was cheerful and optimistic.

The 45-year-old died Saturday after battling brain cancer for about five years.

People remember her as someone who always wanted to help others, no matter what was happening.

"Even with her brain cancer, she did all kinds of research," said her mother, Rosemarie Holmes of Naperville. "And the things she found out, she wanted to put together for other brain tumor patients."

A graduate of Naperville North High School, Taylor lived in Lombard for 20 years and had been active in the Lombard Elementary District 44 PTA, where she was the past president. She also helped organize the Lilac Art Fair for many years, worked on Glenbard Township High School District 87's referendum campaign in the mid-1990s, did many craft shows and was a member of Job's Daughters and the Order of the Eastern Star, Lombard Chapter #918. She also worked for eight years at Grove Inc. in Westchester as a banking and systems coordinator.

Taylor found inspiration from a recent Lance Armstrong conference in Texas, which encouraged cancer survivors to assist others. Afterward, she began working on making bags filled with information about brain tumors.

"Anna Marie would never say 'no' to anybody," said her best friend, Doreen Anderson of Villa Park. "And once she was diagnosed, it was her goal to help others."

Holmes will especially miss her weekly outings with Taylor.

"Since she's been ill and hasn't been able to drive, we've gotten so close because we'd go places together, and every three weeks we'd go through pain and torture --we'd get our eyebrows and moustaches waxed," she said.

Visitation will be today from 2 to 9 p.m. at Brust Funeral Home, 135 S. Main St., in Lombard. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Brust Funeral Home. Interment will be at Mt. Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst.