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Obituary for Elizabeth R. Yackuboskey

Elizabeth R.  Yackuboskey
Betty Yackuboskey, 90, of Indiana passed away peacefully with loving family at her side on Friday, January 31, 2014.

Betty, who was a very down to earth person, started life as a true Southern Belle. Born Eleanor Elizabeth Redford Kersh, in Atlanta, Georgia, she was the eldest of seven children born to Claiborne Snead Kersh and Mary Elizabeth Redford Kersh. As a child, Betty roamed the grounds of her Grandmother Snead’s plantation, north of Augusta, Georgia. She graduated from Lumpkin County High School, Dahlonega, GA where she was awarded the title of class beauty and went on to Martha Berry College, Rome, GA where she completed her education. Friends and family recognized over the years that Betty’s physical beauty was matched by the beauty of her kind and loving soul. Her ancestry included patriot Patrick Henry as well as Albert Henry Redford, a Methodist circuit riding minister and author who went on to become the president of the national publishing house for the Methodist church.

While working in Atlanta, a chance meeting with a soldier stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, who had missed his bus in Atlanta, led to the uniting of North and South. Betty, the Southern Belle, and Army Sergeant John Yackuboskey, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, were joined in marriage on November 17, 1943.
After the War, Betty encouraged and supported John’s studies at North Georgia College in Dahlonega and later at Emory University in Atlanta, where he obtained a Masters of Arts of Social Studies Degree August 26, 1949. Shortly after the family, which by this time included two children, relocated to John’s hometown of Indiana where John later became a professor of history and civics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Betty relished her new life in Pennsylvania where she eventually became the loving mother of nine children and joyfully oversaw her bustling household. She never wearied of caring for her children and recognized and honored the individuality in each one. Her children in turn loved her and fondly recall her delicious southern cooking and her shelves of canned vegetables and fruit lined up “like precious gems.” Betty could pick flowers growing wild in her yard and have them thrive in her own little garden. And after a long day of household tasks, Betty would still be up for a good board game with her children, all the while regaling them with stories of her childhood in the South. These good times were later enjoyed by her many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Brought up as a Methodist and later joining her husband in the Catholic faith, Betty could recite by heart the numerous Bible verses that buoyed her spirits over her long life as a faithful Christian. She is a member of The Church of the Resurrection. Her melodious voice could lift a favored hymn, not to mention the spirits of those around her, to wondrous heights. And she loved poetry, a love instilled in her by her mother, and one that she passed on to her daughter, Donna, a published poet.

Betty somehow also made time for her strong interests in politics, reading, philosophy, and dance. She was a loving wife, devoted mother and cherished friend who maintained contacts with family and friends in Georgia throughout her life.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, husband, John, infant son Michael, son David, and daughter Donna Baer; sisters Ann Kersh, Shirley Davis and brother Claiborne Kersh, Jr.

She is survived by children Mary Blanton (Joe), Juanita Ann Ritter (John), Tina Semon (John), Theresa Neely (Jim), Karen Yackuboskey, Betty Jo Kennedy, Diane Yackuboskey, son-in-law Walter Baer and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; her sister Cora Peck, brothers Marion Kersh and Robert Kersh, many nieces and nephews.

Friends will be received Tuesday, February 4th from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Rairigh-Bence Funeral Home of Clymer. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday morning at 10 AM at the Church of the Resurrection, Clymer. Rev. Father Timothy J. Kruthaupt, Celebrant. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Elizabeth R. Yackuboskey, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.

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