Yvonne Elizabeth Somers

Yvonne Elizabeth Somers went to the Lord on Aug. 20, 2022, at the age of 92. She was preceded in death by her parents, George Wilford and Beulah Thuma; her sister, Velma Lundy and beloved husband, Gilbert N. Somers. She was born February 15, 1930, in Eaton Rapids, Mich. She graduated from Charlotte High School and attended Western Michigan University where she met Gilbert, a handsome flight officer right out of the Navy. They were married the following year and started their family in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Yvonne worked for the Eaton County Savings Bank in Charlotte, Mich., before her high school graduation and, after her youngest child started school, continued her career at R.H. Macy in 1963 and in 1966 went into management with the J.C. Penney Company in Bay Shore, N.Y. Her career with J.C. Penney Company took her to Mentor, Ohio, Akron, Ohio, and to Arizona. She retired from Penney’s in 1987 to care for her father.

Yvonne was the founding member of the Fountain Hills Genealogy Society, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution Four Peaks Chapter, and a volunteer at Out of Africa wild animal park located then at Fort McDowell.

Yvonne moved to North Pole, Alaska, in early June of this year to be closer to her sons, Doug and Dave, and her many grandchildren and great grandchildren there.

She leaves five children, Gilbert Douglas (Wendy) of North Pole, Alaska, Charles R. (Nancy) of Sonoma, Calif., James W. (Judi) of Reno, Nev., Luanne Y. of Rough Rock, Ariz., and David B. of Fairbanks, Alaska; 13 grandchildren, and 16 great grandchildren.

Yvonne’s ashes will be scattered in Monument Creek near Chena Hot Springs, Fairbanks, Alaska, with friends and family in June of 2023.