Yvonne Lee Bratton (Nanny) was born in Geuda Springs, Kansas on September 23, 1930. Yvonne lived in the small town of Castle, Oklahoma until she was 14 years old. Then she moved to Hickman, California in 1944 with her parents (Herbert Lee and Mary LaVerne Phillips) and siblings (Claudine, Lavern, Alice, Donna, Maryanne, Patricia, Phyllis, Herbie, and Leonard). The family then moved to Coalinga, California where they worked in the fields picking cotton.
Yvonne met the love of her life when she moved to California, Douglas Bratton, and they were married in Reno, Nevada on September 14, 1946. She was married nine days before turning 16 and Doug was a month shy of his 17th birthday. Their first house was in Hickman, California. It was an old farm house that was knocked off the foundation. The only thing keeping the wind out was the wallpaper. Doug and Yvonne used the lumber from that house to build a home in South Modesto next to Doug’s parents. It had a blue window that Doug’s father found at a lumber yard. In 1958 they moved to a 20 acre ranch with grapes and a small house in Turlock, California where they built their life together.
Yvonne did seasonal work in the canneries of Modesto (Tily Luis, Tri Valley and Seneca foods) until she was 76. The rest of the year she farmed and worked in her beloved yard. Most of the time you would find her bent over somewhere in the yard for hours. Nan loved to travel and go on trips in the RV with family and friends. When she wasn’t working or traveling, she enjoyed bowling and was in a league.
Yvonne had two sons. Douglas Jr. who died when only six days old and David Bratton who passed away in October of 2021. Yvonne had three grandchildren Amber Bratton of Turlock, Samuel Bratton (wife Jessica) of Denair and Katelyn McHenry (husband Taylor) of Nebraska. Nan had five great grandchildren, Kamron and Tanner Young of Turlock and Wyatt, Cole, and Finn Bratton of Denair.
Yvonne will be forever in our hearts and greatly missed.
