Katy

Catherine Fuller Yallalee
1919 ~ 2009

MONTEREY, CA – Catherine Fuller Yallalee passed away peacefully shortly after celebrating her 90th birthday. Known as Katy throughout her adult life, she was the youngest of eight children born to Anthony Fuller and Ida Harmon, descendents of West Virginia pioneers. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, William Yallalee; daughter, Anne and son-in-law, Timothy Wheelis of Pacific Grove; daughter, Jeanne and son-in-law, Gerald Ingalls of Portland, OR; son, William and daughter-in-law, Dianne of Garland, TX; grandchildren, Jessica Wheelis of Berkeley, CA, Brenna Wheelis of Salinas, CA, Jennifer Ingalls-Hill of Portland, Julia Ingalls of Colorado Springs, CO, Chris Yallalee of Austin, TX, Sarah Shafer of Lockhart, TX; six great grandchildren, and several cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A 1943 graduate of Marshall College, now Marshall University, Katy was one of the first women hired as a chemist by the International Nickel Plant in Huntington, West Virginia, and worked there during WWII until her marriage, settling in California when Bill finished his Army service at Ft. Ord. After raising their family in Sacramento, Katy and Bill moved to Santa Rosa in 1969, and then to Monterey in 1999.
When recently asked, Katy answered that she would like said in her obituary that she had a long happy marriage and raised three lovely children. Her family bears witness to that statement. Katy followed and supported her husband through the end of his WWII military service, and while he established his career with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Army Reserve. She was actively involved in her children’s education, taught them and neighbor children how to read, and volunteered in schools and with Scouts and 4-H. When necessary for the good of her family and neighborhood in both Sacramento and Santa Rosa, she was civically engaged in school and community politics. She was a charter member of the Morse Avenue Church of Christ in Sacramento, and worshiped at the Sonoma Avenue Church of Christ in Santa Rosa and the Pacific Grove Church of Christ. In Santa Rosa Katy was a member of the Sierra Children’s Home (now Agape Villages) Auxiliary.
Descended from a long line of pioneers and farmers, Katy grew and preserved fruits and vegetables, developed beautiful flower gardens, sewed clothing for her family, and mastered sheetrock, taping, painting, wallpapering, and laying tile. She also learned to camp, graduating from tents to RVs; to be first mate in sailboats and steamboats; and to drive on the wrong side in Australia and New Zealand.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the Pacific Grove Church of Christ, 176 Central Avenue, Pacific Grove. Memorial contributions are suggested to Agape Villages, 3160 Crow Canyon Place, Suite 120, San Ramon, CA 94583, or the American Heart Association, 1514 Moffett Street, Suite A, Salinas, CA 93905.

Published in the Monterey Herald from 9/29/2009 – 10/1/2009