Twila Mae Tate Yoakley

Yoakley, Twila Mae Tate After a long and fulfilling life devoted to her family, Twila, age 100, went to be with her Lord and Heavenly Father on April 18. She was born in Etowah, Tennessee, July 29, 1917 to Horace Greeley and Lucinda Jones Tate, moving to Athens, Tennessee in 1924, where she attended school until graduation in 1935. She married John C. Ridenour, Jr. in 1938 and lived in Athens, TN, San Francisco and Seattle before returning to Knoxville in 1947. From then until 1954, Twila worked at the K-25 Plant at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories. In 1954, she married James Frank Yoakley, and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Upon the death of Frank in 1964, she moved back to Knoxville, Tennessee, where she attended the University of Tennessee and studied accounting. She then began working for the McClure Realty Company and managed Western Plaza Billiard & Bowling until her retirement in 1998 because of macular degeneration which caused her to quit driving at age 81. Twila loved her yardwork, continuing to rake sticks and pick up rocks until age 97 when she could no longer walk. Raised on a farm, she was always a hard worker, conscientious, responsible, moral and honest, and did her best to instill those traits in her sons and grandchildren. Widowed for 54 years, she devoted herself to her family, cooking and her yard but her suitcase was always packed for the lake in her later years. Twila was a charter member of the Cokesbury Methodist Church in West Knoxville and gave her life to Christ as a teenager in Tellico Plains. Twila was preceded in death by her parents, brother James Tate, and sister Helen Walker. She is survived by her sons, Gary Ridenour (Debra) and Douglas Yoakley (Sara); grandchildren, Taylor Yoakley (Allison), Jordan Sanders (Houston) and Meagan Yoakley; great-grandchildren, Liam Tate Yoakley and Asher Chase Yoakley. The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to those caregivers which loved and cared for Twila so well the past three years: Mary Ellen, Kristin, Caroline, Lisa, Tammie and Sue; and with appreciation to Covenant Hospice and Always Best Care for outstanding care and compassion; and for the agape love shown by her daughter-in-law Sara, who made it all work. The family will receive friends Friday, April 20 from 5 to 7pm, at Rose Mortuary Mann Heritage Chapel on Kingston Pike, with a private graveside service at Highland Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Knox Area Rescue Ministries, The Restoration House or The Philadelphians Prison Ministry.

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Twila Mae Tate Yoakley

July 29, 1917 - April 18, 2018