Patricia Johnson Yurkovich

Patricia Louise Johnson was born in Pasadena, California on September 18, 1928. She was the only daughter of Lake Clifford Johnson and Ruth Harwood Johnson. After graduating from Pasadena City College, she attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where she met her future husband, Dan. A longtime resident of Carmel, they moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1955.

An avid reader and enthusiastic student of ancient and Middle Eastern history, Patricia was able to travel and visit archaeology sites in Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Italy. Among her most cherished memories was the brilliant red sunset across the Nile in Luxor. It was the same scene that Pharaohs would have observed three thousand years ago above the Valley of the Kings. One of her many personal goals was to participate in an archaeology excavation in ancient Mesopotamia. To realize that dream, she took Arabic classes for several years at the Defense Language Institute. Unfortunately, children, family and other interests left this dream unrealized, though she wistfully reminisced about how much fun it would have been.

Patricia had a creative streak and was always developing new hobbies and skills. After enthusiastically exploring one area of interest, she would discover a new field and wholeheartedly throw herself into this new endeavor. Thus, her interests included, home improvement, gardening, drawing, knitting, ceramics, beadwork and anything that demanded intense creativity.

Preceded in death by her husband, Dan, she is survived by her two sons, Dan (Connie) of Saudi Arabia and John (Melanie) of Twain Harte; two daughters, Dona (David) Lloyd of Salinas and Julie (Michael) Forrest of Pacific Grove; and six grandchildren, Gena Yurkovich, Lauren Yurkovich, Tamsen Forrest, Autumn Aguiar, Kyle Pestoni and Sabrina Pestoni in addition to five great-grandchildren. Patricia is also survived by two brothers, Royce Johnson, M.D. of Bakersfield and Steven Johnson of Fresno.

A celebration of Patricia’s life is planned for this summer. Memorial contributions are suggested to the charity of your choice.