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Maurine Ruth Yale Yragui died on October 19, 2023, in Napa California. Maurine was born on November 4, 1934, in Geneva, New York to Maurice Wade Yale and Hazel Blodgett Yale. As a child she dearly loved her collie, Trixie, given her in secret by her grandmother Yale, who tucked the puppy under a blanket at her feet in her parent’s car. Because her father was a biologist specializing in dairy bacteria they moved from New York to Green Bay Wisconsin, where her favorite memory is of she and her brother Ken using their toy periscope to get sneak peeks at the Packers at practice. They next moved to Patterson California. In Patterson she enjoyed horseback riding in Del Puerto Canyon and camping at Yosemite for an entire summer where she met Ansel Adams. A very strong swimmer, she was a lifeguard at the Patterson Pool. She played clarinet in the band at Patterson Union High School and studied piano as well. She worked her way through San Jose State, entering as a music major. Upon graduation she became a Kindergarten teacher at Sunshine Gardens Elementary School in South San Francisco. She met Robert Yragui while they were both home from college in Patterson. They moved to San Francisco and married in 1957. They had five children, Teresa, Elizabeth Ann, Emily, Claire and Cathy. Her interest in teaching remained, she joined a co-op nursery school for her girls, and applied the Montessori method to reading instruction. A special memory is of our times at Fleishhacker Pool, where she would go off the high dive, and swim the butterfly with one of us on her back. She fell ill as a young mother, and suffered repeated hospitalizations and struggles with mental health as a result. Despite her bouts of illness, she remained a loving and active mother. For the last fifteen years she suffered from a form of leukemia which was in remission until just recently. Music was one of her loves for the rest of her life. She enjoyed all the arts, and we treasure the countless times she took us to the De Young Museum. She loved picnics in Golden Gate Park, at the beach or Aquatic Park. In more recent years she loved picnicking at JFK Park in Napa. A voracious reader, as her physical health declined she used books to enter other worlds and lives. She wrote poetry throughout her life, especially haiku. She loved gardens and bird watching and was always interested in observing the natural world. Maurine is survived by her daughters Teresa (Ron Garnys) Elizabeth Ann, Emily (Mike Arnold), Claire (Rudy Jamie) and Cathy; her Grandchildren Jane Migachyov, Tom Christiansen, Merisa, Kelly and Kyle Rasmussen, and Brandon Yragui and her Great-grandchildren, Adrian Fairbank, Jade Taylor, Clara Migachyov and Isabella and Kendrick Yragui as well as her sister Joan Faul of Atwater, California. She was predeceased by her husband, Robert Yragui, and her brothers Paul and Ken Yale. A viewing will be held on Wednesday November 1 from 3 to 7 PM, and the funeral service will be Thursday November 2 at 11 AM with burial to follow at Skyview Memorial Lawn, 200 Rollingwood Drive, Vallejo CA 94591. Please call 707-644-7474 if further information is needed. The family wishes to especially thank all the staff at the Meadows of Napa Valley who showed their care over these last years, and all the residents who were her friends at the Meadows. Also thanks to her doctor, Patrick Dermody.

Tributes

Maurine R. Yragui

November 4, 1934 - October 19, 2023