Lashan Renia Taylor, affectionately known to many as “Shonnie,” entered eternal rest on May 15, 2026.

Born on September 23, 1967, in Los Angeles, Lashan lived a life rooted in strength, resilience, love, and determination. She spent most of her life in Los Angeles before making Ridgecrest her home for the last sixteen years.

Lashan attended Locke High School, graduating in 1985, and later attended Job Corps, where she earned her certification in offset printing. Throughout her life, she worked hard and carried herself with dignity and pride. She also worked as a noon duty aide at Budlong Elementary, where her caring nature naturally extended to the children around her.

A devoted woman of faith and service, Lashan was also a proud and dedicated member of the Order of the Eastern Star, where she faithfully participated in the organization’s activities for many years. She served as Worthy Matron, a role she carried with pride, dignity, and commitment. Her involvement in the Order was deeply meaningful to her and remained an important part of her life for as long as her health allowed.

To know Lashan was to know someone who loved deeply. She was funny, generous, caring, stubborn, strong-willed, and full of life. She had a heart that gave more than it received, and even when life was unfair, she continued to show love, compassion, and kindness to others. She believed in helping people whenever she could, even during times when she herself was struggling.

Lashan was also a fighter in every sense of the word. She battled kidney disease with remarkable strength, enduring ten years on dialysis before receiving a kidney transplant in 2019. Through every hardship, she continued to live her life on her own terms. She never allowed her circumstances to define her. She kept pushing forward with courage, determination, and the same stubborn spirit her family knew and loved so well.

She loved spending time with her family, eating good food, watching television, and taking trips to Las Vegas. More than anything, she loved her children and grandchildren fiercely and without condition.

Lashan leaves behind her loving children, Kashawn Renee Cole and Jimmy Charles Wheat; her cherished grandchildren, Raniyah Lashan Flores and Rajay Devon Flores; her brothers, Amadee Diamond(Donna Diamond), Larry C. Diamond(Carolyn Diamond) and Andre Jefferson(Tia Jefferson); along with many extended family members, loved ones, and friends whose lives were touched by her presence.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Ruby Taylor; her father, Amadee K. Diamond; and her sister, Almadee R. Diamond.

Lashan’s life cannot be summed up in a few paragraphs because every person who knew her carries a different memory, a different laugh, a different lesson, and a different piece of her love. But one thing remains true for all who knew her: she was unforgettable.

Though our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing her fight is over and her spirit is finally at peace.

Forever loved. Forever missed. Forever Shonnie.