Leola G. Taylor | Wanamakers worker, 95

Leola Glover Taylor, 95, a solo soprano with an angelic voice who worked in the John Wanamaker handbags department in Center City, died of heart failure Sunday at her home in Ashburn, Va., where she had lived for three years. She was a longtime resident of North Philadelphia.

After earning a teaching certificate in 1940, she moved to University City and married George Glover. She worked as a mail sorter at the 30th Street Post Office during World War II. After her husband died, she married Charles Wendell Taylor, and they moved to Cobbs Creek.

Mrs. Taylor went to work as a sales associate, first at Gimbel Bros. and then at Wanamakers in the 1960s. She retired in the 1980s.

"She was an elegant lady who designed and made many of her own clothes," goddaughter Dorothy Thomas said. "She made a beautiful lace bridal gown for me."

After her second husband died in 1984, Mrs. Taylor moved to North Philadelphia and sang with the choir at First Colored Wesley Methodist Church, where she was head of the church-news staff.

In addition to her goddaughter, Mrs. Taylor is survived by another goddaughter, Joyce Schmidt Allen.

A funeral will be at 10 a.m. today at First Colored Wesley Methodist Church, 17th and Fitzwater Streets, where friends may call after 9. Burial will be in Fernwood Cemetery.