Growing up in New Jersey, Tor Taylor says she was raised to do service. Her mother co-founded the county museum and was active in the Junior League among other charities. Tor was always expected to participate.

When Tor came to California, specifically Point Reyes Station in 1978 to a friend’s party, she said to herself, “This is where I want to live.” After years of working and owning a beautiful Edwardian duplex in San Francisco, she found herself traveling to and from Point Reyes every weekend. It was in 2000 that she decided to “bite the bullet” and buy her beautiful home outside of Pt. Reyes Station, with gardens any novice would admire; flowers, succulents, herbs, veggies and a few fruit trees. Four years later, through their mutual volunteer efforts for Canine Companions for Independence, Tor met her wife Laurie Monserrat who is also very active in community service locally. They were married in Toby’s Feed Barn in 2006. They have been raising their nephew Hiroki, for the past 11 years.

Two dogs Becca and Tyla happily greeted me as I arrived to learn more about Tor. She invites me to sit and chat in the middle of the gardens. I admire the collection of heart shaped stones she has collected that sit in a row between us. Tor is a woman who’s volunteer journey in West Marin has been serving on local committees such as the Inverness Yacht Club’s Youth Sailing Program, and nonprofit boards. Tor joined the WMSS Board in April 2017. She has a strong vision for helping to develop a strategic plan for WMSS.

“I will always do some form of service, whether on a board or in some other way. It is the way I was raised and it’s important to me to give back to the community I love so much.”