Obituary for Rebecca Jane Yeatman (Bell)
Rebecca Jane Bell Yeatman (Becky) died peacefully in her sleep at 7:21 p.m. on Thursday, January 27, 2022, at The Lodge, a skilled nursing facility in Warner Robins, GA. She was 87, and had suffered with congestive heart failure and COPD. Loving friends had been by to visit with her the week of her passing, and family got to be with her over the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holidays. Becky is survived by her son, Russell Yeatman, and grandson Mark Yeatman; daughters, June Yeatman and Jaehn Clare; brother J. Michael Bell; sister Marietta Stone; grandsons Joshua, Justin, Jason, and Joseph Herreman and their families; and 22 nieces and nephews and their families. Becky was widowed in May 2016 when her husband Bill (Charles William Yeatman) died suddenly after suffering several myocardial infarctions. She was also preceded in death by her mother, Amelia Keathley Bell; her sister, Sarah June Bell Cooper; and her father, Russell E. Bell.
Becky, born in Conway, Arkansas, and growing up in Crossett, Arkansas, loved music, drama, literature, and travel. She held a B.S. in Home Economics from Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas) and an M.A. in Child Care Administration from Nova University. Becky worked as an early childhood educator in Arkansas, Hawaii, and South Dakota, a children’s specialist with the Houston County Library System, and as a standardized medical patient for the Mercer School of Medicine. Wherever she lived, she played Scrabble®, participated in community theater, found people with whom to share her love of reading, and inevitably and always planned trips – to relax at the beach, to share a festival or concert with family and friends, to explore New York or wander through New Mexico. Passionate about voting rights, education, literacy, human rights, peace, and social justice, over the course of her life Becky served in The League of Women Voters, worked for Head Start, was a member of the American Association of University Women, joined the National Organization for Women at its inception, and was a long-time member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Singing in the choir at All Saints Episcopal Church brought her immense joy, as did joining in book study and attending events with Episcopal Church Women and the Women’s Interfaith Alliance. Becky’s last trip was to Montgomery, Alabama, to visit the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Her brownies and peanut butter cookies were legendary. Up until the end, spending time with family and friends, making it to church, mulling over an interesting book, listening to her favorite music, getting in a game of Scrabble®, watching the birds, discussing a good movie, meditating over news of the world, sharing a hot cup of coffee—these were the things that mattered to Becky.
Funeral Service: Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 1:00 p.m., All Saints Episcopal Church, Warner Robins, Georgia. Reception in the Parish Hall follows. Inurnment of Ashes (Becky and Bill): Private service for the family at Magnolia Park Cemetery later that day.
Charitable contributions in lieu of flowers.
Friends may sign the online registry at www.fairhavenmacon.com.
FairHaven Funeral Home and Cremation Services has charge of arrangements.
Becky, born in Conway, Arkansas, and growing up in Crossett, Arkansas, loved music, drama, literature, and travel. She held a B.S. in Home Economics from Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas) and an M.A. in Child Care Administration from Nova University. Becky worked as an early childhood educator in Arkansas, Hawaii, and South Dakota, a children’s specialist with the Houston County Library System, and as a standardized medical patient for the Mercer School of Medicine. Wherever she lived, she played Scrabble®, participated in community theater, found people with whom to share her love of reading, and inevitably and always planned trips – to relax at the beach, to share a festival or concert with family and friends, to explore New York or wander through New Mexico. Passionate about voting rights, education, literacy, human rights, peace, and social justice, over the course of her life Becky served in The League of Women Voters, worked for Head Start, was a member of the American Association of University Women, joined the National Organization for Women at its inception, and was a long-time member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Singing in the choir at All Saints Episcopal Church brought her immense joy, as did joining in book study and attending events with Episcopal Church Women and the Women’s Interfaith Alliance. Becky’s last trip was to Montgomery, Alabama, to visit the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Her brownies and peanut butter cookies were legendary. Up until the end, spending time with family and friends, making it to church, mulling over an interesting book, listening to her favorite music, getting in a game of Scrabble®, watching the birds, discussing a good movie, meditating over news of the world, sharing a hot cup of coffee—these were the things that mattered to Becky.
Funeral Service: Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 1:00 p.m., All Saints Episcopal Church, Warner Robins, Georgia. Reception in the Parish Hall follows. Inurnment of Ashes (Becky and Bill): Private service for the family at Magnolia Park Cemetery later that day.
Charitable contributions in lieu of flowers.
Friends may sign the online registry at www.fairhavenmacon.com.
FairHaven Funeral Home and Cremation Services has charge of arrangements.