Taillard, one of eleven born to her parents, had a younger sister who died aged 99 sometime between January and September 2010, as well as another brother who lived to be more than 100 years old. Her remaining siblings lived to be about ninety years old each, with Taillard becoming the longest-lived among them.
At the time of her 110th birthday in 2010, only the eldest of Taillard's nine children had predeceased her. Among the surviving children was a son, André, aged 81 as of 5 January 2010.
Taillard also had twenty-five grandchildren and thirty-five great-grandchildren, as well as eight great-great-grandchildren. During her final years, she lived with her youngest daughter, Genevieve, who was born when Taillard was forty-six years old.
Taillard, who mostly led a healthy life, was reported to have no answer when asked what her "secret" to longevity was. According to a French source in translation, she was reported to have enjoyed coffee with cancoillotte, a runny French cheese produced mainly in Franche-Comté, Taillard's hometown, every evening. She was also stated to have abstained from alcohol.
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| Taillard with a younger woman, believed to be one of her daughters. |
Taillard, whose husband was a farmer, also had to at one time care for four of her sister's children on top of her own nine, bringing her total charges then to thirteen in addition to the farm duties she had to carry out.
The requisite documents for Taillard's validation were obtained when she was still 109, and she was subsequently added to the Gerontology Research Group database on 12 December 2010, just three days prior to the death of fellow validated French supercentenarian Joséphine Fouesnel at 110 years 67 days, as well as that of Belgian Aimée Rensonnet-de Teirlynck at 110 years 331 days, on 15 December 2010.
Taillard died on 31 August 2011, aged 110 years, 349 days, as the 56th validated supercentenarian to do so for that year. Though she could no longer communicate in her final days, she was reported to have had a rare display of vitality that had surprised even her attending doctors.
At the time of her death, she was the 66th-oldest living person and the fourth-oldest living Frenchwoman, as well as the 58th-oldest French on record; to this day she still remains one of the 65 oldest French people on record.