Kathleen Wildwood

Kathleen Taylor Wildwood died on July 12, 2022 at the age of 84, in her family home in Weatherford, Texas. She was born on July 1, 1938, in Abilene, Texas, the daughter of Virginia Kerby Taylor and Larry Thornton Taylor. She led a life of adventure from an early age. Kathleen and her family (including two brothers, Robert and David) moved around the state, living in Fort Worth, Weatherford, San Angelo, San Antonio, and Lubbock. She was very active with Girl Scouts and went on several encampments as well as participating in the Juliette Low Exchange Program where she went to Puerto Rico and Colombia for two months soon after her graduation from high school.

While attending Texas Tech, she met and married Gene Spain. The couple moved to Wisconsin, Colorado and Wyoming. They had two children, Rebecca (Becky) and Glenn. The family moved to Puerto Rico in the mid-1960s where they lived in a suburb of San Juan and then on a small sailboat moored in the bay at La Parguera, on the south coast of the island. Kathleen left Puerto Rico in 1975. She lived for a year back in Texas, and then set off to see the world, including sailing in the South Pacific for a year. She returned to La Parguera, Puerto Rico in 1977 where she established a retreat including a guest house, natural health food store, and healing center. Her guests came not just for a place to stay, but also to learn from Kathleen about diet, nutrition, health, personal wellbeing, and spirituality.

Kathleen moved to Texas again in 1987 to spend time with her father in San Antonio and her mother in Weatherford. She traveled with her mother often, including a trip to Greece, Israel, and Egypt. Her mother passed away in Weatherford in 1993. After her father’s death in 1996 in San Antonio, Kathleen moved back to Weatherford, into the family home. Her grandfather, J.B. Kerby, had purchased this house around 1920, remodeled it in the 1930s (adding the rock and brick exterior), and again in the 1950s. There, she continued to share her ideas with people from all over the world and continued traveling within the United States and to other countries. She especially enjoyed visiting her children and grandchildren in Florida and North Carolina.

Among many things, Kathleen will be remembered as a holistic healer, storyteller, harp player, singer, dancer, and overall creative person. She lived softly on this earth and loved every creature and nature. She was very caring and always willing to help anyone. She was a life-long learner and lived life to its fullest. She thoroughly enjoyed celebrating her 84th birthday on July 1, 2022 with family and friends.

She is survived by her daughter, Becky and husband, Doug Schwarz; her son, Glenn and wife, Katy; her brother, Robert Taylor and husband, Ted Nowick; her brother, David Taylor; four grandchildren, Ryan Spain and his wife, Alexa, Derek Schwarz, Kyla Spain, and Melissa Schwarz; and two nephews, Anthony, and Christopher.