Florence Yvonne Brown

February 26, 1929 - January 4, 2021

Yvonne Brown, 91, of Carbondale died on Monday, January 4, 2021 at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale of complications from Covid. She is survived by her children Susan Barnes of Cobden, Debra Doyle (Jean Wolf) of Atlanta, Georgia, and David Brown (Renata) of Cleveland Heights, Ohio; sister Joyce Boyd (Harry) of Lake Junaluska, North Carolina; sister-in-law Pam Brown of Dallas, Texas; grandsons Damian Doyle (Stefanie) of Washington D.C., Johnny Barnes and Joshua Barnes of Cobden; great grandchildren Thisbe, Rafael, Asa, Monet, and Logan; 4 nephews; and 7 nieces. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Wilbur; father J. Erby Hastings and mother Florence (Neal) Hastings of Carbondale; brother John Hastings and his wife Lillian Goddard of Royal Oak, Michigan; brother-in-law Larry Brown of Dallas, Texas; sister-in-law Bettie (Brown) McGee Townsend of Collinsville; and son-in-law John Barnes of Cobden. Born on February 26, 1929 in East St. Louis, Yvonne lived in Marissa, Illinois until age 14 when her family moved to Carbondale. She graduated in 1947 from Carbondale Community High School where she met her future husband Wilbur. They were high school sweethearts and were devoted to each other throughout their 67 years of marriage. Yvonne worked at Doctor’s Hospital (now Memorial Hospital of Carbondale) and the Carbondale Clinic for over 25 years. She retired after working several years for Dr. Adirau Palagiri, MD. Yvonne enjoyed a good laugh and an inch of wine from time to time. She loved gardening, animals and her family. She especially enjoyed spending time with her ‘dumb kids’ who were forevermore called that after failing to properly identify a certain type of potato. Yvonne was a happy person by nature, satisfied with simple pleasures. Yvonne and Wilbur loved to travel and visited all 50 United States and several countries overseas. One of their favorite things to do was taking Sunday afternoon drives throughout the countryside, often stopping for pie or cobbler on the way home. A few years after Wilbur’s death in 2015, she moved into Liberty Village in Carbondale and lived there until her death. She had many friends at Liberty Village and spent many hours a day playing Yahtzee and Uno with her ‘card girls’. She also enjoyed a special friendship with Jim Ellis, with whom she shared many happy times, including a 13-hour car trip to Branson, Missouri (made longer than planned due to an adventure crossing the Mississippi River during a flood). Yvonne was a long-time member of University Baptist Church in Carbondale as well as Red Hats and the Hickory Ridge Golf dinner group. The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Evelyn Gates, Karen McMinn, and Lili McBride for the care and companionship they provided to Yvonne over the past two years. Many thanks also to Kathy Gendron, director at Liberty Village, for her support. Cremation rites will be accorded. Inurnment will be in Pleasant Grove Memorial Park Mausoleum. Crain Pleasant Grove-Murdale Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Because of the pandemic, no service will be held at this time. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Those who wish to remember Yvonne in a special way can make a gift in her memory to University Baptist Church (700 South Oakland, Carbondale, IL 62901). Memories and condolences can also be given online at https://www.crainsonline.com/obituaries/Florence-Brown-17/ ========