Laura “Laurie” R. Taylor

Laura “Laurie”  Reynolds Taylor, a Wilmington advertising and marketing executive, died peacefully in December 2025, at Crosslands in Kennett Square, PA. A favorite of the Crosslands staff, Laurie slipped away as she had lived, with grace and beauty, surrounded by her children and close friends.

Laurie was one of few executive women in advertising, holding senior roles at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, Barron Associates, Jones/Kent & Associates and Deardorff Associates. She established the Wilmington office of Saatchi & Saatchi to service The DuPont Company, its largest account. In later years, she worked for The YMCA of Delaware and also for The Willlowdale Steeplechase, in service of her lifelong love of horses.

Among her many accomplishments were the establishment of a Chamber Visitor’s Center in Bridgeville, Sussex County, DE, on behalf of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, and the expansion of the Chamber’s community outreach programs, “Superstars in Education” and “Principal for A Day”, which built long-term relationships between leaders of the business and education sectors statewide. While at Deardorff Associates, she was instrumental in the firm winning the Philadelphia Gold Award for Special Identity Programs.

Laurie was an active board member and prolific fundraiser, raising nearly $1 million in a six-year period for the American Cancer Society. She also served on the boards of the Delaware Zoological Society, Forum of Executive Women, Junior League of Wilmington, the Wilmington Rotary Club and The Kennett Square YMCA. Laurie annually sponsored a team in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life.

Laurie was an accomplished athlete, running track in high school and skiing well into her late sixties. She loved to ride horses, especially her “Zim-Zam.” She loved to knit, needlepoint, garden and do the Wilmington News Journal crossword puzzle.

A resident of Kennett Square in her later years, Laurie was the widow of C. Robert Taylor, the former President and CEO of Delmarva Broadcasting, parent company of WDEL and WSTW.

Laurie was pre-deceased by her parents, William and Dorothy Diment Reynolds, and her brothers, Peter Reynolds and J.D. Reynolds. She is survived by her daughter, Christine Searl, her sons, Timothy (Anne) Searl and Andrew (Kelly) Searl, her grandsons, Jack Haegele, Justin Searl and Lincoln Searl, her granddaughters, Emily Taylor and Avery Searl, her stepdaughters, Anne (Michael) Malone and Martha (James) Harpham, her stepson, Robert Taylor, Jr., her many step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren, as well as her sister-in-law, Catherine Reynolds, niece, Dina Reynolds and nephew, Peter Reynolds.

Her children would like to thank the staff and community at Crosslands, who loved our mother, saw the person behind the illness and kept her busy, safe and comfortable through the Pandemic and her long decline.

On June 12, 2026, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, Laurie’s family will receive friends at Chandler Funeral Home, 2506 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 19803. A memorial service will be held at Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church, 110 Old Kennett Road, Wilmington, 19807, on June 13, 2026, at 11:00 am. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 92 Read’s Way, New Castle, DE 19720.