Obituary: Marilyn “Diane” Yeats

As received from the Memorial Chapel & Plowe Funeral Homes:

Houghton
Our beloved Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother slipped peacefully away to join her forever love on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. She was born in Ironwood, Michigan on December 11, 1932, the only daughter of Harry Lawrence and Ellen Eleanor (Stonemark) Sorenson. She often shared special memories of her mother and father during the Depression years and growing up in the U.P. in the 1940s. She graduated in 1950 from Luther L Wright High School in Ironwood and completed her Clinical Laboratory & Xray Technician degree in 1951 from The Northwest Institute of Medical Technology in Minneapolis, MN. From there, she chose a small town in southern Ohio for her first job. She would often say she went down to Georgetown, Ohio to find the love of her life, Raymond Norbert Yeats. She happened to be roommates with Ray’s cousin, so when he dropped by to visit, he was greeted by Diane at the door. Their first date was to a movie, where she promptly fell asleep, as she had just gotten off a 24-hour shift and on-call at the Hospital. Despite the rocky start, they fell deeply in love and married 6 months later on March 7, 1953. Theirs was the love story we all hope for. They had three children – Steven, Catherine, and Melissa “Lisa†– all born in Ohio. Ray worked for the Cincinnati Milling Machine Company in field service, so they moved out East to Massachusetts and Connecticut and finally back to Cincinnati in 1968. Diane enjoyed raising her children and managed to work part time for the Federal Government while living out East doing early Market Research and finally full time as an Administrative Assistant for Cline Realtors in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ray retired early, and they enjoyed many years together in Naples, Florida, spending summers in Diane’s childhood home in Ironwood. After Ray’s death in 2010, Diane made her Naples home her full-time residence. After her son’s death in 2018, her daughter Lisa insisted that she return to her ‘roots’ in the U.P. and moved her to The Bluffs Senior Living Community in Houghton where she has resided for the past 2 years. Diane grew to love The Bluffs and her many friends there. She loved the staff and always had a story to tell. Many residents will remember that she was the “dog lady†, displaying her menagerie of large stuffed pups: Pumpkin, Kayo and Bailey – she was dog sitting them for her granddaughter Ellen. She especially enjoyed Happy Hour on Fridays, Bridge, and chatting with friends over coffee. She had truly settled into her community at The Bluffs and enjoyed all her friends there. Every Sunday, Diane would enjoy dinners with her daughter Lisa’s family and ‘adopted’ grandchildren, sharing stories, and listening to her family’s escapades and accomplishments. She believed that the most important time for a family was to sit together and talk about their day and week. She was the family matriarch and since moving back to the U.P. was able to happily watch her oldest grandson, Matthew, marry the love of his life, Kellie last July. She taught her children how to be good, caring, compassionate people and to make the family the number one priority in their lives. Her family will miss her loving watchfulness, her sassy personality, and her true devotion to them.

Diane was preceded in death by her parents, and infant brother Glenn Allan, her beloved husband Raymond in 2010, and her son Steven Arthur in 2018. She is survived by her daughters Catherine (Neal) Middelberg of Apex, North Carolina, Lisa (Doug) McKenzie of Hancock, and daughter-in-law Carol Yeats of Gainesville, Florida; grandchildren Matthew Jackson, Cameron, Erin, and Molly McKenzie, all of Hancock; Joseph (Annie) Middelberg of Raleigh, North Carolina; Ellen Yeats of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Eric Yeats of Raleigh, North Carolina. Great Grandchildren Torrence Jackson and Brooke Juusula of Hayward, Wisconsin and Eleanor Middelberg of Raleigh, North Carolina. She also delighted in her almost-grandchildren Stephanie Bonenfant, Kyle Hillstead, Stephen Rowley, Luis Cortes, and Jessica Cunningham. Her Grandpups and kitties will miss her too…

The family is planning a celebration for her many friends and family this summer at The Bluffs Senior Living Community once it’s safe to go out again…

To view this obituary or to send condolences to the family, please visit www.memorialchapel.net.

The Memorial Chapel & Plowe Funeral Homes of Hancock are assisting the family with the arrangements,