VW Connected would like to introduce Linda and Grant Taylor. They have lived in their Inwood Drive home since 1978. Linda and Grant met as neighbors at an apartment complex, then off Westheimer Road near Hillcroft. Their apartments were across the way from each other, which gave Grant the opportunity to meet Linda and ask her for a date. A few months into their courtship, Grant popped the question and these two have been married for over 52 years. They moved to the Sharpstown area shortly after they were married. Friends of theirs were looking to move and found a home in Village West, so Linda and Grant followed. They recall that another VW neighbor, Raymond Torres worked for the builder (Tutton Homes) at the time. Grant tells us that Mr. Torres was not directly involved with the building of their home, but he made sure that supplies were delivered and that everything stayed on track.
Neither Linda nor Grant is originally from Houston, but after all these years they feel like native Houstonians. Linda is originally from Pennsylvania. As a result of employment opportunity Linda’s dad moved the family to Port Arthur when Linda was 13 and then the family moved to Houston when Linda was 17. Grant is originally from Lubbock, Texas and after attending Texas Tech and at the suggestion of a fraternity brother he moved to Houston because of the career opportunities.
Grant, a CPA, retired about 15 years ago after working for Haskell and Sells, Texas Commerce Bank and American Express. Linda worked prior to getting married but made the decision to dedicated herself to her family when her first son was born. Linda worked for a local steel company and later worked for a jewelry designer and with VW’s first management company, RCM. Family and friends are important to the Taylors. They have two sons and 5 grandchildren. The grandchildren range from 1 to 8 years of age and both Linda and Grant light up when they talk about their grandchildren. Linda and Grant are admitted homebodies and even when their kids were young Linda said family trips were primarily to Galveston.
For those of us that know Linda, we know her passion for volunteerism. Linda’s employment with RCM resulted in being asked to serve on the board, according to Linda “a very long time ago”. She was approached because back then it was difficult to find residents who wanted to serve and some that were serving had employment conflicts that kept them from attending meetings; and such absences limited the actions the Board could take. Linda served on the VW board until 2014. Linda is known for tackling issues and volunteering is no different. She volunteered with her kids’ school PTA, PTO organizations and in whatever other role that needed to be filled. Grant jokes that Linda refused to work for a salary, so volunteering came natural to her and kept her busy.
We learned that Linda assisted the Constables Contract Program just after it was implemented where she volunteered at the Town and Country Mall office (City Centre for those who were not around in those days). She is also one of the co-founders of the Briar Forest Super Neighborhood #18. Linda is and has been the VW Security Director for over 35 years. Wow, thank Linda. She took on that role when the prior director left, and there was no one willing to tackle that role. It seems Linda’s spirit for volunteering has certainly kept her involved with VW in one way or another for many years.
Grant keeps busy with their dog Rusty. Rusty, a handsome beige mix breed is the second 4-legged family member that came from CAP. Linda and Grant are both big believers in the CAP organization and encourage anyone interested in becoming a pet owner to visit CAP (Citizens for Animal Protection is located at 17555 Katy Freeway Houston, TX 77094, or call (281) 497-0591 or visit them at cap4pets.org). Rusty requires daily walks, loves to be petted and always enjoys visitors arriving to the Taylor home. For Rusty, visitors give him an opportunity to get a few more hugs and a little more attention. Grant tells us he enjoys walking Rusty because it gives him an opportunity to meet more of his neighbors and it gets him “out of the house”.
Linda and Grant were both vocal about how much they have enjoy watching the kids from the neighborhood grow up and now have kids of their own, and love seeing more young families moving into the Village West.
We wish to thank Linda for her years of support and dedication to VW, and for Grant’s patience for we are certain that Linda’s dedication took time away from this great family.
