Lorene D. Yates July 3, 1944 – January 19, 2017

Lorene Yates died Thursday evening January 19, 2016 after a long illness. She is survived by her siblings Jerry Hebble, Grant Hebble and Cordeal Delson; sister in law Kasey Allen; her children, Zach Yates, Edie Yates and Karl Yates; son in law Yiping Lim; daughter in law Sarah Yates; her grandchildren, Leonard and Ada Lim, and Jackson Yates, and her many and beloved nieces, nephews and friends. She is preceded in death by her husband, Leonard Yates and her parents, Jacob Grant Hebble III and Edith Lorene Hebble.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Lorene moved to California to marry Leonard in 1971, three months after meeting. They raised their three children on a small ranch outside of Hollister among many animals and motor vehicles. Lorene attended Duke University where she made lifelong friends. They enjoyed many trips together to Florida, Eastern Europe and Turkey, as well as to Duke for basketball games. Lorene worked first for the Department of Agriculture in Washington DC, then for IBM in New York, where she was trained as a computer programmer.
It was at IBM that she met Leonard and many of her great friends. Too smart and independent to be trophy wives, they still jokingly called themselves the “second wives club”. Lorene was an avid quilter and a member of the Pinnacle Quilters, Sip N Sew, as well as a book club, and a rug hooking group. She volunteered in Kathy Kilday’s class at Spring Grove elementary school for many years.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Community Food Bank of San Benito
1133 San Felipe Dr, Hollister CA, 95023
www.communityfoodbankofsbc.org
A memorial for Lorene will be held at
Grunnagle-Ament-Nelson Funeral Home,
870 San Benito Street,
Hollister, California 95023,
on Feb 4th at 11:00 A.M.
Visit www.grunnagle.com for condolences