Isabelle Yaeger Blakey

She died at her home in Chaires on June 1, 2014.

She is preceded in death by her sons, Louis Charles Strauss and Robert Henry Strauss and her brother, Jack Yaeger, Jr. She is survived by two children, Kent Strauss (Susan) and Susan Strauss Thompson (Dale); daughter-in-law Wanda Strauss; sister Charlotte “Lolly” Pomeroy Wier (Carl); seven grandchildren: Jerry Strauss (Laurie), Erick Strauss (Kristin), Kellie Pemberton (Cory), Elizabeth Strauss, Katherine Strauss, Anna Gutierrez (Richard), Louis Poskey (Meghan), Brooke Thompson, Ashley Leggett (Wes) and five great grandchildren: Taylor Strauss, Robert Strauss, Nicholas Strauss, Henry Pemberton and Alexander Gutierrez.

Isabelle, “Bay” to everyone who knew her and “Peach” to many close friends, was the original owner of the Strauss Gallery, a business which still bears her name. She moved her family from downtown Tallahassee to the Chaires community in the 1970s where she restored the historic Chaires Methodist parsonage and the Ellis cottage. She was noted by The Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation for her role in saving and restoring the David Chaires home (ca. 1879) and inclusion of the Chaires community in the National Register of Historic Places.

Bay loved the outdoors, gardening, Shelties and St. Teresa Beach where she spent many happy summers with her children and grandchildren .She was brave and she was beautiful, and her memory will live on in the hearts of the many people who loved her and were loved by her.

The family would like to thank her caregivers Lynnette Marshall Ardley, Rev. Denise Sims and K’nedra Thomas for providing gentle and loving care. They would also like to thank Covenant Hospice for their excellent care and support.

There will be a service at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 4, in Oakland Cemetery at the grave site off Brevard Street. Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Homes is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Covenant Hospice, Lemoyne Center for Visual Arts or Goodwood Museum and Gardens.

Arrangements under the direction of Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home, Tallahassee, FL.