Roxanne Louise Yates

Roxanne Louise Knorr Yates, beloved wife, mother, sister and friend, died in Austin, Texas on August 1, 2025. She will always be remembered for her strength, grace, commitment to her family and community, Girl Scouting, and love of travel. She lived her life to the highest standards and thought of others above herself even in her last days.

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 28, 1945, in the waning days of World War II, to Nancy Louise Yapp Knorr and John William Knorr, Jr., she was the second of four siblings. The family moved to Artesia, NM in 1948 to be closer to her paternal grandparents and great-grandparents -- the Brainard family who pioneered the Pecos Valley in the early 1900s. She and her three siblings spent early summers at the family cabin in the upper canyon of Ruidoso where they explored the forest, the Rio Ruidoso, and spent many hours in a wooden car her brother built, imagining world travels without moving. After her father died in 1959, her mother remarried Verlon Davis, the Artesia High School principal, and the family expanded to include a stepbrother and stepsister. Their house on Roselawn was a lively one, which, in addition to the six children, often included foreign exchange students.

Throughout her primary and secondary education, she excelled in school and began developing her passion for leadership, community, and travel through her participation in Girl Scout Troop #6. For several years her troop raised money by painting fences, among other odd jobs, so they could earn enough to train to Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1957 to attend programming at Our Cabaña Girl Scout Center. Her junior year of high school, she applied to be a Rotary Exchange student in Finland and sailed across the Atlantic the following summer to live with her host family in Helsinki, forfeiting her varsity cheerleading position at AHS in favor of this international opportunity, much to the dismay of the rest of her squad.

Roxanne graduated from AHS in 1963 and attended Trinity University and New Mexico State University. She was introduced to the love of her life in the eighth grade when she received a note to “Rocks Ann” from a boy named Fred in language arts class. But it was several years later during a summer at home when that friendship grew into a romance, and eventually marriage in 1966. After marrying Fred, Roxanne graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson with a degree in elementary education in 1968.

Luckily Fred also loved to travel, and they began seeing the world together in 1970 on an eleven-week camping trip through Europe in their VW camper, relying strictly on their travel bible: “Europe on $5 a Day”, which she claims they beat on several occasions. In later years, the two trekked to Africa, Australia, and Cuba, and shared trips with one or more daughters to destinations including India, Mexico, Ecuador, China, Costa Rica and a family favorite, the British Virgin Islands, the most recent trip being in June of this year and included their grandchildren.

In 1972 Roxanne and Fred moved to Tularosa, NM where Roxanne taught first grade and Fred began developing a commercial pecan business, in addition to farming and ranching the Stover Ranch. In 1974 the couple moved to Roswell, where Fred focused on the oil and gas business and they began establishing deep roots in the community.

Over the following fifty years, Roxanne served her community in many roles through First Presbyterian Church, United Way, The Roswell Chamber of Commerce, the Roswell Symphony Foundation and as the first female President of the Roswell Rotary Club, but her passion remained Girl Scouting, and she continued to wear the uniform through most of her life. After serving as a troop leader and member of the Zia Girl Scout Council Board of Directors, she served on the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors of Girl Scouts of the USA, and later the World Board of the World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides (WAGGS), overseeing the World Centers, including Our Cabaña in Cuernavaca where she had been a Girl Scout participant in 1957. These duties took her to Ireland, India, Switzerland, Mexico and the Philippines and provided her with rich experiences meeting and working with other international leaders. In total, her service to Girl Scouting in her adult life spanned more than 23 years.

Roxanne’s greatest joy, however, was watching her three daughters and their children grow. Her commitment to developing young female leaders held true in her own household. While providing love, guidance, and encouragement, she also set a high standard. From this environment she grew three accomplished and compassionate women, who in turn have used her model to raise their own children.

Her pride for her family was annually documented in her Christmas letter, which she has been faithfully writing for more than fifty years. There were few, if any, years where a full family photo was not included.

Music was always an important part of her life. She was an accomplished vocalist and played the flute, piano and organ, giving flute lessons throughout high school to earn money. She and Fred were in Orchestra together in the 10th grade (Fred plays the violin), and they carried on a tradition of playing together by entertaining friends and family with Christmas carol sing-alongs for many years.

She has always been a beautiful and consummate hostess, and like many of the other aspects of her life, loved the details, especially when a themed party was involved! But she also loved just sitting on the deck at her home in Roswell watching the sunset over El Capitan with Fred.

Roxanne is survived by her husband of 59 years, Fred G. Yates; daughter Becky Pemberton of Austin, Texas; daughter and son-in-law Sarah and Hunter Glass of Fredericksburg, Texas; daughter and son-in-law Amanda and Clay Cowan of Austin, Texas; grandchildren Ella Pemberton, Harris Pemberton, Tatum Glass, Yates Cowan and Louise Cowan; siblings Dan Knorr and his wife, Sharon, of Alto, NM; Johnny Knorr and his wife, Rose Mary, of Alto, NM; Andrea Knorr Crockett of Tucson, AZ; Bob Davis and his wife, Be, of Portand, OR; and Barbara Davis Thornton and her husband, Gene, of Edgewood, NM. She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepfather and her grandson, Cole Pemberton.

A special thank you to Jacque Hearne and Angella Strosche, her caregivers for the last 15 years, for their dedication, friendship and care.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 30th at 1:30 pm at First Presbyterian Church of Roswell, 400 W 3rd St, Roswell, NM 88201.

In lieu of flowers, please consider memorial donations to the Roswell Symphony Foundation, 1717 West 2nd Street, Suite 205, Roswell, NM 88201