Linda Janice (Tennant) Taylor

It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we share the passing of Linda Janice Tennant Taylor of Crossnore and Asheville N.C. on May 25, 2026.

Linda was born to Fay Aldridge Tennant and W.D. Tennant on December 24, 1937 at Aston Park Hospital in Asheville. She spent the large part of her youth surrounded by an extensive family in Crossnore until leaving in 1956 to attend Appalachian State Teacher’s College, earning a BS in 1960. After teaching Physics and Chemistry at Garinger High School in Charlotte for a year, Linda went on to earn a degree in Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1963. It was in pharmacy school where she met and later wed another pharmacy student, James Robert (Bob) Taylor (class of 1962). Together they lived and worked in Fort Smith (AK), Aberdeen Training Ground (MD), Nebo (NC) and Elkin (NC) before returning to Crossnore in 1969 when she and Bob purchased Crossnore Drug Store from her parents. Prior to the move, they welcomed two daughters– Susan, born in Aberdeen in 1966, and Laurel, born in Elkin in 1968.

In addition to managing the demanding jobs of running a business and raising children, Linda was tireless in her devotion to her community and church. A strong advocate for public education, Linda was elected to serve on the Avery County School Board in the 1970s and later served as the elected Chair of the Board in the 1980s. Her work on behalf of the school system was recognized through her appointment to the Honorary NC School Board. For many years, Linda also served on the hospital board of directors at Sloop Memorial in Crossnore and was instrumental in the establishment of a new county hospital in Linville, NC. Linda also served as president of the UNC Pharmacy Alumni Association, president of the local chapter of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), and was an active member of the AAUW (American Associate of University Women). She juggled the demands of all these roles while devoting herself to Crossnore Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday school for many years. Linda’s extraordinary energy, service and accomplishments were celebrated in 1985 when she was named ‘Avery County Woman of the Year’ and again in 1995 when she was awarded the Bowl of Hygeia, a prestigious national honor in pharmacy that recognizes pharmacists whose civic leadership and community service are outstanding.

Though Linda loved owning and working in the drug store in Crossnore that her father had established in the 1940s, she welcomed retirement in 2003 when she and Bob sold the business so they could spend more time with her beloved granddaughters, Hadley and Sawyer Taylor-Arnold. While continuing to work as an occasional relief pharmacist in Mars Hill and Asheville after retirement, Linda took her greatest joy from her granddaughters and was a devoted (and permissive) granny, affectionately known as ‘Duck’ or ‘Ducklyn’ to the girls. She and Bob moved to Givens Estates in Asheville in 2022.

Linda is survived by her devoted husband, Bob Taylor, of 63 years, daughter Susan Taylor Hartley (husband Clay) of Crossnore, daughter Laurel Taylor (husband Dan Arnold) of Barnardsville, NC and granddaughters Hadley Taylor-Arnold of Morgantown, WV and Sawyer Taylor-Arnold of Philadelphia, PA.

Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Crossnore Presbyterian Church and the Crossnore Volunteer Fire Department.

Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.