Taylor M. O’Neill, 23: Talented, adventurous, gone too soon

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Taylor O'Neill
Taylor O’Neill

MANCHESTER, NH – Taylor M. O’Neill passed away on Sunday, September 28, 2014. Taylor was born June 28, 1991 to Walter Nichols and Wendy Bamford Ahlquist in Manchester, NH. He briefly lived in Merrimack where he attended Merrimack Middle School while achieving honors, and then went on to graduate from Central High School in Manchester, while maintaining his honor status.

Taylor will be remembered for having a heart of gold; he was a strong, talented, adventurous, person who loved skateboarding, snowboarding, art, comics and painting. Taylor enjoyed drumming with his band “Send Forth the Swarm” and loved making others smile and laugh.

He was dedicated, determined, grateful, and cherished the smaller things in life. He won many awards for his skateboarding excellence and loved skateboarding at the Merrimack skating park and spent many hours at the indoor skate park at Rye Airfield. His dream was to someday open an indoor skate park.

He was very hard-working at any job that he undertook. He loved his family very much and always enjoyed being with them for all occasions. One year, he was the family Santa Claus at Christmas, which gave him great pleasure. Growing up, Taylor was a beautiful, happy child with blonde hair and baby blue eyes and a wonderful smile that he wore all the time. He loved his brothers and sisters unconditionally. He and his cousins spent hours together playing video games and sometimes they got in trouble. He loved his cousins and loved being with them. Taylor also loved riding ATVs. He cherished his grandmother and grandfather, his aunts and uncles and had a very special love for his mother which she felt for him.

He had wonderful times at the “Maine camp” and loved to go fishing. His other loves were playing his drums and listening to music with his friends who were a very important part of his life. His 21st birthday with all his friends was one of the best days of his life. His sunglasses were very special and sitting around a fire in the yard was a special time for him.

Taylor was a fine young man who we were blessed to have with us for too short a time.

Taylor is survived by his parents, Wendy Bamford Ahiquist and Walter Nichols, his sisters, Jocelyn Tetu of Manchester, Hannah Bamford of Hillsborough, and Alecea Ahlquist of Hillsborough, his brothers, Jake Bamford of Candia, and Michael Ahlquist of Hillsborough, his maternal grandparents, Robert and Anne O’Neill of Merrimack, and his paternal grandmother, Kathleen Ashe of New Ipswich, his girlfriend and love of his life, Demi Smith of Merrimack, and many other aunts, uncles, cousins and countless good friends.

A celebration of Taylor’s life will take place Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 2 p.m. at 55 Kimball Hill Road in Hillsborough, NH.

In Lieu of flowers, the family would like to have donations sent to TD Bank in Manchester under the Taylor M. O’Neill Fund in Taylor’s loving memory.

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!