Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Widow's children help her cope
The Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) ^ | Aug. 14, 2002 | Karalee Miller

Posted on 08/14/2002 4:37:43 PM PDT by ResistorSister

JuWanna Taylor, widow of slain Massillon Patrolman Eric B. Taylor, is finding the strength to cope from the most precious gifts her husband gave her: their two young children.

``My children are what have kept me going,'' Taylor said Tuesday at the family's home in Massillon. ``You have to put you on the back burner. They need their mother.''

Taylor, 31, said she has tried to keep her children, Ty, 2, and Lauren, 1, as close to their regular daily schedules as possible since her husband was shot and killed Friday night while on duty. Eric Taylor, 31, joined the Massillon department in 1998.

``He's usually here,'' she said. ``Now, Mom's here instead of Dad. I've just tried to keep them in as much of a routine as possible.''

The routine for the household saw Tuesdays as Dad's day with the children, Taylor said.

``He let me have a day to myself. He was an excellent father.''

As the days go by, Taylor said, coping with her husband's death is becoming more difficult.

``When everything happened (on Friday), I just went numb. And since then, there has always been somebody here... This is the first time I've kind of been by myself,'' she said. ``The numbness is starting to wear off.''

Whether it was playing with the children or doing household chores, Taylor said her husband always took care of his family.

``There are not many men out there like that,'' she said, ``but my husband was. He cooked, he cleaned, he changed diapers. He did everything... We raised our children together.''

Taylor said she also has found comfort in the many friends and family members who have been by her side.

``We're just staying here and making sure she's OK,'' said JuMekia Jones, JuWanna Taylor's sister. Jones, 24, arrived from California on Saturday.

The first time Taylor saw her future husband, she knew he was someone special.

``I said to my friend, `Ooh, that's a cute guy,' '' Taylor said, remembering when they met in 1994. Her friend happened to know Eric and called him over.

``We exchanged phone numbers that night,'' Taylor said. ``On the way home, I told my friend, `He's going to be my husband.' ''

Five years later, he was.

Her husband's line of work was a worry for Taylor in the past.

``Lately, I didn't worry much at all,'' she said. ``I just thought this (Massillon) was a safe place to work.''

When one of Eric Taylor's fellow officers pulled into the family's driveway Friday night to inform JuWanna her husband had been shot, she thought it was her husband coming home, she said.

``My husband would check on us a lot,'' she said.

Even when the officer rang the doorbell, she still didn't think anything of it, she said.

``I just thought he forgot his key at work,'' she said. ``I just opened the door and walked away from it.''

When the officer told her that her husband had been shot, Taylor said she ``freaked out.''

``I froze,'' she said. ``I said, `I've got to get my babies.' ''

Taylor said Massillon police officers have shared information surrounding her husband's death so she can know as much as possible.

``He engaged the suspect, not knowing he was armed,'' she said officers told her.

Taylor said officers told her that her husband tried to exit his car through the passenger-side door when Donald W. Matthews, 61, of Jackson Township fired.

``The car was still in drive and kept rolling, but he managed to escape from the car,'' she said.

When the gunfire ceased, Eric Taylor, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, had been fatally shot. Matthews also had been shot dead.

While her husband always had a way of making others smile, Taylor said it was tough to get him to grin for a camera.

``He wasn't big on taking pictures,'' she said, laughing. Taylor said she had to ``basically beg'' her husband to sit for a family photo about six months ago.

``I am so glad I did that,'' she said.

Taylor said she has been overwhelmed by the community's outpouring of support.

``I can't express into words how appreciative I am and how it feels to know that he has gotten a response like this,'' she said.

Calling hours will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Stewart & Calhoun funeral home, 529 W. Thornton St. in Akron. There also will be calling hours from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday at the House of the Lord, 1650 Diagonal Road in Akron. The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m.

Following the ceremony, Eric Taylor will be buried at Mount Peace Cemetery, 183 Aqueduct St. in Akron.

JuWanna Taylor said the services may bring ``a small amount of closure.''

``But also then it's the beginning of a life without him,'' she said. ``That's going to be the toughest.''


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: inthelineofduty; massillon
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 401-405 next last
To: Cultural Jihad
...but he sure followed Mao's dictum about political power growing out of the barrel of a gun

Yeah, he did.

21 posted on 08/14/2002 5:36:49 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
I'm not offended. I agree wholeheartedly. May that wench who left the letter burn in h-ll too.
22 posted on 08/14/2002 5:39:25 PM PDT by ItisaReligionofPeace
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
Notice how he singlehandedly broke up an intact family.

My husband and I are sickened by that fact too. It's Horrible!

23 posted on 08/14/2002 5:40:00 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: ItisaReligionofPeace
I am out of the loop...what does P.O.S. mean? I might know what the O.S. means...but not the P.
24 posted on 08/14/2002 5:46:44 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: ResistorSister
I think P stands for piece, you know the rest.
25 posted on 08/14/2002 5:48:50 PM PDT by pubmom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: ResistorSister
Here's a link to the Police Dept with his picture in it, and directions to send condolences to his family. There's also a place to donate to a memorial fund.

May God rest his soul, and bring comfort to his family.

http://www.massillonohio.com/police/
26 posted on 08/14/2002 5:48:55 PM PDT by NRA2BFree
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: pubmom
Thanks!
27 posted on 08/14/2002 5:49:58 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: ResistorSister
Police said they aren’t looking for Shlarp.

Perhaps a chance meeting would be nice.

28 posted on 08/14/2002 5:52:24 PM PDT by RGSpincich
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: RGSpincich
It was reported on the news that they found her today and talked with her.
29 posted on 08/14/2002 5:54:19 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Cultural Jihad
I use the term "neo-Leninist" for any ideology which is prone to advocating and initiating violence. Mr. Matthews may never have heard of dialectical materialism or the class struggle, but he sure followed Mao's dictum about political power growing out of the barrel of a gun.

Ah. You mean like the Founders.

30 posted on 08/14/2002 5:55:34 PM PDT by DAnconia55
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Cultural Jihad
I wonder if others understand that one of your goals is to help con the American people into thinking that at no point is violence against our leaders an option.

It always remains on the table. And nothing you do can remove that God-given right.

Nice try though.

31 posted on 08/14/2002 5:56:49 PM PDT by DAnconia55
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: RGSpincich
Perhaps a chance meeting would be nice.

Lovely. Who are the Stalinists here?

32 posted on 08/14/2002 5:57:52 PM PDT by DAnconia55
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: ResistorSister
Wow, I really feel for this widow(and her children). Her husband sounds much like mine and I would be lost without him. God bless her and may her family and community help to keep her going.
33 posted on 08/14/2002 5:57:59 PM PDT by glory
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DAnconia55

Don't try to smear the Founders with the mindset of these militia wacko cowards. We are not ruled by a foreign occupation army, and Henry David Thoreau did not write a pamphlet entitled "Civil Insurrection".

34 posted on 08/14/2002 5:58:00 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: NRA2BFree
Thanks NRA2BFree...I am sure his wife would like to see that people from all over the states - send their sympathy and prayers.
35 posted on 08/14/2002 5:58:33 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: DAnconia55

Congratulations. You just made the nut list.

36 posted on 08/14/2002 5:59:01 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: VA Advogado
Where does it say the perp was one of those wacky constitutionalists?

Yeah, the constitution is real wacky. /sarcasm

37 posted on 08/14/2002 5:59:39 PM PDT by southern rock
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: southern rock
No, sr, the wackiness comes from self-annointed Constitutional scholars committing murder, or winking at or excusing it.
38 posted on 08/14/2002 6:01:55 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: OneidaM
If this missive was left as you say, and you know who left it, why not identify the bastard who did it? If you left it, why not present it as your own perverted piece of work? Most Americans are sick of lawbreakers and their apologists. If you can actually justify the killing of a policeman, try it. Do it logically, not emotionally. You can not. You are some sort of anarchist. Go to hell. Go directly to hell. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
39 posted on 08/14/2002 6:03:34 PM PDT by mathurine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: glory
Here is a picture of: JuWanna Taylor, widow of slain Massillon Patrolman Eric B. Taylor, says she has tried to keep their daughter and son on as regular a schedule as possible since their father was shot and killed Friday.

JuWanna Taylor, widow of slain Massillon Patrolman Eric B. Taylor, says she has tried to keep their daughter and son on as regular a schedule as possible since their father was shot and killed Friday.

40 posted on 08/14/2002 6:03:49 PM PDT by ResistorSister
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 401-405 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson