Carolyn Yeater

Carolyn Yeater passed away on March 22nd in Tempe, AZ. She was 93 years old.

She was born Helen Carolyn Risser in 1933 to parents David and Helen Risser (née Clark) of Seattle, WA. The family spent the WWII years in Corpus Christi, TX, where her father was stationed with the Navy. After the war, the Rissers moved back to Seattle where Carolyn graduated from Queen Anne High School and The University of Washington.

It was there she met doctoral student James Yeater, whom she married in 1955. The young couple soon moved to Tempe, AZ, where Jim had secured a teaching position in the Theater Department at Arizona State University.

The Yeater family grew with the addition of sons Christopher and Eric and daughter Amy Yeater, and the house on West 7th Street was always a beehive of activity. Carolyn was also active with ASU’s Faculty Wives and made many friends within that organization.

But her true passion was travel. To test the waters, local camping trips were undertaken as soon as the kids were old enough. And in 1968, the family of five spent seven months touring Europe in a VW camper van while Jim was on sabbatical from ASU. They all survived.

Upon returning to the US, Carolyn picked up some secretarial work with the City of Tempe. But she soon found her way back to the Travel industry, becoming a Certified Travel Consultant and working as a Travel Agent full-time. Her favorite part of the job was taking “fam trips” – junkets arranged to promote tourism around the world. From Monaco to Machu Picchu, Iceland to Israel, Carolyn visited nearly sixty countries in her lifetime.

After years of traveling and adventures, Carolyn and Jim retired to Friendship Village in Tempe where they reconnected with old ASU friends and made some new acquaintances as well.

Carolyn’s husband James passed away in 2015. Though she missed him terribly, she had 60+ years of wonderful memories of their time together.

Carolyn Yeater is survived by her children Christopher and his wife Mitzi (Pullen); her son Eric; and her daughter Amy and her husband Keith Smith.

Also her brother David Risser and his wife Becky, grandchildren Ryan and Cody Yeater, a handful of cousins and a multitude of friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Hospice of The Valley .