Donna G. Yates

Donna G. Yates, 82, North Port, FL, formerly of Paducah, KY, moved on to her heavenly reward July 22nd at the Hospice House in Venice, FL, following a massive stroke nine days previously. She had fought a courageous battle against cancer for more than three years.

Donna was born in Campbellsville, KY, on December 14, 1943, to R.A. and Edith Gardner and was the youngest of three girls, all raised on the family farm in Taylor County, KY.

Donna graduated from Taylor County High School in 1961 and attended Western Kentucky University, where she met her husband, Jeff, to whom she was married for almost 62 years.

Prior to her retirement, Donna worked as a financial secretary for the former Four Rivers Boy Scout Council in Paducah, KY, and later for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Charlotte, FL. Donna also volunteered as an adult camping and outdoor cooking trainer for the Kentuckiana Girl Scout Council in Paducah. Thanks to her survival cooking and camping skills, she and her husband more comfortably endured a six-week-long power outage following a devastating hurricane in Punta Gorda, FL, in 2004 and an extended ice storm-related power outage in Paducah five years later.

Donna loved being out on the many boats she and her husband owned, and consequently, she earned her Coast Guard Captain's license with many years of experience in the Caribbean and on the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers, along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and both coasts of Florida.

Until macular degeneration robbed her of much of her eyesight, Donna was an avid book reader and was well known for her unique, hand-crafted greeting cards, some of which are still prized by their recipients.

Prior to moving back to Florida full time in 2021, Donna was an active member of the Highland Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Lone Oak where she was instrumental in creating and developing the church's popular booth that offers chocolate-dipped key lime pie on a stick at the annual Barbecue on the River festival. She more recently attended Grace United Methodist Church inVenice, FL.

She was predeceased by her parents and sisters, Carolyn Crenshaw and Judy Wilcox in California. She is survived by her husband, Capt. Jeffrey Yates, son Gregory Yates (Tina) of Medina, TN, and daughter, Lechelle Vernon-Yates (Trevor) of Greensboro, NC.

A private family celebration of life will take place at her favorite "hideaway" in a small cove on Lake Barkley with Bro. Bud Russell from Highland Cumberland Presbyterian Church officiating.

Expressions of sympathy may be made through contributions to the Tidewell Hospice House in Venice, FL, at https://tidewellfoundation.org/donate/, Englewood Area Rescue Society (EARS) in Englewood, FL, at https://earsanimalrescue.com/donate, or your favorite charity.