Evelyn Dianna Yockey

Evelyn Dianna (Harlan) Yockey was born near Louisville, in Winston County, Mississippi on June 9, 1935. She was the fifth of six children born to Clyde Victor Harlan and Grace Van Landingham. Their family was dirt poor. Her father farmed and worked odd jobs. The family grew most of their own food, and Evelyn spent much of her youth doing chores on the farm and working in the garden. She also helped her mother with many indoor tasks. She did enjoy a number of childhood games, including hopscotch and ball and jacks.

She rode the bus to school in Louisville where she attended a three-room schoolhouse, complete with separate outhouses for boys and girls. She had her share of accidents during childhood including a near-drowning event, a concussion from being kicked by a horse, and breaking her right arm twice in less than two months.

Life slowly began to improve as they got electricity in their house when she was twelve. She enjoyed listening to radio shows such as the Grand Old Opry in the evening with the family. The family moved to Louisville in 1948 when she was 13 and then to Memphis, Tennessee in December 1949. She graduated from Central High School in 1953. At one point she attended high school with Elvis Presley where she saw him perform in the high school auditorium.

Evelyn worked in a bank after graduation. She met her future husband, Glenn, one evening when he offered her and a friend a ride home. He walked her to the door, where he asked for her phone number. He waited two weeks to call for a date, so once he did, she pretended that she didn’t remember him. They started dating and fell in love. Glenn was in the Navy and was transferred to New Jersey and subsequently to Massachusetts, but they continued corresponding and got engaged. Evelyn and Eleanor, a friend who was engaged to her brother, drove to New England to marry their fiancés. Glenn Lester Yockey and Evelyn Dianna Harlan were married on January 22, 1954, in Whitman, Massachusetts and sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on February 6, 1976.

Their first son, Michael Glenn Yockey, was born just before Glenn was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida, where they lived for 16 years. Glenn joined IBM after his naval service ended. The two of them were blessed with four more children: Barbara Anne, Mark Daniel, Cathy Angela, and Duane Clarence. The family moved to Winchester Springs, Tennessee in 1970. Evelyn and Glenn were divorced in 1984, but later remarried in 1989 in Magna, Utah.

She eventually went back to school and earned her LPN license and later her RN degree in 1990. She worked in several hospitals, including over 10 years at the VA hospital in Salt Lake City. She also worked in home health, finally retiring in 2002.

Evelyn was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints through a neighbor in Jacksonville. She joined the church in September 1961 and spent many years in church service in numerous callings. She was very active in family history, preparing thousands of names for temple work and performing hundreds of ordinances herself.

Evelyn was a devoted mother who did everything she could for her children. She was an excellent cook, fixing some of the best southern foods you can imagine. She was also a talented seamstress.  She was an avid gardener who loved fresh vegetables, especially her home-grown tomatoes. She enjoyed crossword and jigsaw puzzles.

She moved to Magna, Utah in 1985. Glenn joined her there later. After a short time in Stansbury Park, Utah, they returned to Magna. Evelyn died in her own home from causes incident to age, exactly eight months after her husband passed away in the same home.

She is survived by one brother, her five children, 10 grandchildren, and 25 ¾ great grandchildren. One grandchild and two great grandchildren proceeded her in death.