Former state legislator from Columbus Maretta Taylor died Sunday Feb.. 16. She was 78.

Her close friend Florene Dawkins said Taylor, "who had a great love for people" died at 4:23 a.m. She had been ill for several months.

"I am saddened by the news," State Rep. Calvin Smyre said. "I was contacted early this morning. She was a good person, very community oriented. It was an honor to have served with her."

Taylor served from 1990 t0 2002 in the Georgia House of Reprsentatives.