Frances Kay Yates

Pawnee- Long time resident, Frances Kay Yates, went to be with the Lord on Monday, April 6th.




Born in Ft. Benning, GA on April 28, 1943, she received a Nursing Degree from Sparks School of Nursing, Ft. Smith, AR in 1964. It was during nursing school she met and married the love of her life, Robert Larry Yates. The two adventured all over the world traveling with the U.S. Army and eventually settled in Pawnee, OK in 1979. She continued to pursue her nursing career at Stillwater Medical Center until 1994. In 1994 she contracted an infection that caused paralysis and she spent the next 25 years living life from her wheelchair.




She was a woman of many loves. She loved Larry for more than 50 years and showed others what a loving and dedicated wife looked like. She loved her daughters well and let them see how to be a strong woman who loved the Lord. She loved her grandchildren and did her best to care for them and spoil them just a bit. Most of all she loved Jesus and lived it out through her many life trials. She never asked why, she just asked for strength to endure.




She is survived by her two daughters and son-in-law Laura Yates, Norman, OK and Teressa and Michael Bruce, Tuscaloosa, AL; grandchildren Kelsey and Eli Bruce both of Tuscaloosa; sisters Linda Redingner, Edmond, OK and Becky Tucker, Edmond, OK; as well as numerous family and friends.




Due to pandemic restrictions, the family had a graveside service, but a memorial service will follow later in the summer.