Born October 27th, 1935 to Lee and Elsie Stephens in Lynn, Arkansas. They moved to Miami, AZ in 1940. She had one brother Bill Stephens.
Yvonne met her future husband of 36 years, Billy Gerald Van Dyke, through her childhood best friends, twin sisters Onieta and Juanita Van Dyke, Bill’s younger sisters. They were married in October 1951 and they had 5 children, Jim, Missy, Dwayne, Rodney and Amber. She has 18 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
Yvonne was baptized in February 1944 at First Baptist of Miami, AZ.
She spent most of her life in the metro Phoenix area. Her oldest son Jim was born in Texas where they lived for a bit. Missy was born in California before they settled down in Phoenix. Later in life she went between Missouri and Arizona to be with her kids and grandchildren.
She had various careers while raising 5 children. Selling real estate, cashiering for Lucky’s market, activities director in a nursing home, and customer service at a credit reporting agency.
She was a member of the White Tanks Southern Baptist Church and later First Southern Baptist Church of Avondale. She loved gospel and bluegrass music. She played the violin and piano.
Later in life she loved to take road trips with her best friend Jackie Helton. They would take off with no destination in mind; if they were together and had gas in the car, they were good to go.
She loved to eat anything sweet while drinking instant Nescafe. As kids, her children rarely had cookies, but they later learned Yvonne had cookies stashed for herself. She loved green chili burros. She was not a drinker, however from time to time she enjoyed a margarita.
She often looked for her glasses & found them on her head. She was often seen with two burning cigarettes.
She loved to collect rocks, often bringing many home from short walks. She doted on her children and grandchildren. She never met a dog or cat she did not love.
She always had a perm in her hair, her granddaughter remarked that she did not know her hair was straight until she was in high school. She usually protected her hair from the rain with grocery bags or popcorn tins.
A visitation service will be held on Thursday, May 28, 2020 at Greenwood Memory Lawn Serenity Chapel. Following a graveside service at Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can made to the Alzheimer's Association. https://alz.org/
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18