Yvonne “Evie” Cardella Sulky Johnson

Cardella Johnson was born in Seattle, WA on November 14, 1936 to parents Carl & Della Sulky, and was raised by her father and stepmother, Olga. At a young age Cardella moved with her family to Selah, WA where she attended school and graduated at age 17 from Selah High School in 1953.

Cardella worked at Hillcrest Dress Shop, honing her seamstress talent, and later creating many costumes from scratch for her daughter’s ballet performances.

It was while working at The Regina drive in that she met the love of her life, Donald (Don) Johnson. They were married September 7, 1957 in Walla Walla, WA, and lived on Naches Heights until the winter of 1963/64 when they moved their family of five to the home they built on the Johnson family farm on Livengood Road in Cowiche, WA, where they lived together for nearly 40 years.

Evie became Don’s nickname for Yvonne, and Evie began learning the fruit growing and processing business from the ground up. While Don built and maintained the warehouse and equipment, Evie supervised the crews and kept the books for their business, Johnson Orchards in Cowiche.

Evie loved her rose and rock gardens, spending many seasons watering and weeding until they were just right. She was also a lover of animals and took in the strays that Don would find on the farm. In addition to the normal pet menagerie of dogs and cats, were fish, parakeets, rabbits, guinea pigs & hamsters, owls, cotton tail bunnies, a falcon, and a lame duck she named Ruddy Mary.

Central Lutheran Church was a huge part of Evie’s life from teaching summer Bible school, singing in choir and opening her home to church sponsored traveling students. But Evie was most proud of her annual “Bring Out The Linens And Fancy China Turkey With All The Trimmings” Christmas dinner that she prepared and served for several years in Fellowship Hall.

Evie was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Johnson in 2002, her brother Paul Sulky in 2015 and her parents Della, Carl, and Olga. She is survived by her daughters Toni Snyder, Stephanie (Mark) Clark, her son Bruce (Melissa) Johnson, honorary son Steve Babcock, and her granddaughters Brooke (Phil) Pugh, Melody Benner-Snyder, Crystal (Adam) Stauffer, grandsons Casey Benner-Snyder, Ryan Clark and Alexander Johnson, and her great grandson Kekua Wilson.

Graveside services will be held at 11 am Friday May 12, 2017 at Terrace Heights Memorial Park followed by a Memorial Service at 2 pm at Central Lutheran Church in Yakima. Coffee and refreshments will be served downstairs in Fellowship Hall immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to the Yakima Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in c/o Keith and Keith Funeral Home.

To share a memory of Evie, please visit www.keithandkeith.com.