Jane Taylor Becksted

Interview Date: 13 July 2021

Jane Taylor Becksted moved to Brimfield in 1954 when her father Russell Taylor purchased a home that became the Taylor Funeral Home and purchased the funeral home business from Dean Johnson. Jane lived with her parents and brother in Brimfield from 1954 to 1960 (7th grade through high school, graduation in 1958). In this interview Jane talks about the Taylor and Johnson Funeral Home records she donated to the Peoria County Genealogical Society. Her collection of postcards and photos of historical Brimfield are used in this interview. Jane shares information about HR Johnson & Son Furniture and Undertaker business which later became a hardware store. Listeners will learn what it was like to live in Brimfield’s funeral home, what her parents were like, and what life was like as a young teen growing up in Brimfield in the late 50’s. 

Introduction
0:43 Taylor Funeral Home Records
1:03 Johnson Funeral Home Records
1:34 What brought the Taylors to Brimfield
2:15 Dean Johnson
3:30 H. R. Johnson & Son (Furniture & Undertaker)
6:15 Taylor Funeral Home photos
8:15 Kitchen as viewing room
9:50 Embalming at the house
10:25 Friends and the funeral home
11:10 Russell Taylor’s involvement in Brimfield
14:40 Mrs. Elva Taylor, Lady Attendant
15:57 Hearse also ambulance
18:35 Taylors sold Funeral Home
19:02 Dick Archibald and family lived in the home. Tore down for Casey’s
19:20 Moved to Tuson, AZ
21:40 Saturday night movies
23:00 Growing up in Brimfield
24:45 Brimfield Library-Mrs. Blundy
25:25 Favorite teachers
26:20 High school activities
29:30 Father Russell Taylor worked at hardware store for Johnson and Al Arnold 

Taylor Funeral Home
H.R. Johnson Undertaker and Furniture Store
Cady Bros
Carson Grocery
Russell Taylor
Dean Johnson
Dick Archibald
Rick Bostic
Don Bride
Mrs. Blundy, Brimfield librarian
Growing up in Brimfield in 50’s
Gauss Mortuary, Peoria, IL
Johnson Arbor Insurance
Parkside Café
Ewalt’s Roller Skating/Bowling
Helen Metz
Violet Dungan
Mrs. Doubet
Al Arnold  

Interviewed by : Kim Claybaugh Hanks

Interview Format : Zoom Video with Slideshow Presentation

Total Time : 30:53

The interview is archived at the Brimfield Public Library District in Brimfield, Illinois.

The Brimfield Oral History Project is a long-term effort to record the stories of Brimfield’s past in the voices of those who remember and make these original sources available for generations to come. This collaboration is a partnership between the Brimfield Public Library District, the Brimfield Historical Society, and the Peoria County Genealogical Society.

Readers of interview transcripts, if available, should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word and that the interviewer, interviewee, and editors sought to preserve the interview as recorded. Brimfield Public Library District and project volunteers are not responsible for the factual accuracy of this interview, nor for the opinions expressed within.

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