Charlotte West Yates

Charlotte Virginia West Yates, 100, of Richmond, Virginia, passed away on August 26, 2026. Born in 1926 to Perry G. West and Mary G. West, Charlotte grew up on the family farm in Bacon’s Castle, Virginia, where the family raised peanuts, corn, soybeans, cattle, pigs, and chickens. Theirs was a home without running water or electricity until Charlotte was into her early teenage years — a childhood shaped by hard work, resilience and love. She often recalled men coming to the farmhouse door during the Depression asking to work in exchange for a meal; her family never turned anyone away. Music also played an important role in the family; everyone sang or played an instrument, and the family sang in public on occasion, accompanying her father's beautiful tenor voice.

Having witnessed firsthand how demanding farm life could be, Charlotte decided early on that she would build a different kind of life for herself. She pursued her education with determination, graduating in 1947 from State Teachers College at Farmville — now known as Longwood University.

Charlotte went on to work as a librarian at William & Mary, where she met William “Bill” Yates, an Army Air Corps veteran working as an FBI special agent on temporary assignment nearby. The two were married in 1948 at Surry Baptist Church, beginning a partnership that carried them through more than six decades together. Charlotte would later say, “It was a wonderful marriage. I wish I could do it all over again.”

Following their marriage, Charlotte and Bill moved to Manhattan, where they lived for five years — a period Charlotte cherished deeply. She fell in love with the city: the endless energy, the countless Broadway shows and musicals, and the joy of exploring everything New York had to offer. There she also discovered a passion for playing bridge, a game she enjoyed for the rest of her life. During these years, she worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research as executive assistant for Dr. Oscar Bodansky, a pioneer in the use of biochemistry for the detection of serious diseases, helping with the second edition of his 1,200 page foundational text "The Biochemistry of Disease."

In 1953, Bill left the FBI, and the couple relocated to Richmond, Virginia, where they would settle and raise their family. Charlotte worked as a legal secretary until the birth of Bryan, the couple’s first child. In 1960, Charlotte and Bill bought the house that remained her home for the rest of her life. That same year she and Bill joined Bon Air Baptist Church, where she found some of her closest friendships, and where her Christian faith — deep, generous, and inclusive — would remain a guiding part of her life. She and Bill raised three sons — Bryan (wife, Sally), David, and Steven (wife, Tricia) — all of whom survive her.

Once her children were older, Charlotte returned to the work she loved, serving as a librarian at Westhampton College of the University of Richmond, and later at a private secondary school.

Charlotte and Bill traveled widely together and made the most of their years side by side — a cross-country driving trip, journeys to Europe, and a long friendship with a couple from the UK they met on a cruise through the Panama Canal. She loved the beach, loved to travel, and loved even more the many, many friends she gathered along the way, particularly in her beloved Richmond community. She was known for her warmth and sociability, her generosity, her sweet nature, and her wonderful sense of humor. She loved telling stories and was always looking for the best in people — though, backed by her keen intelligence, she was nobody’s fool. She was fiercely protective of her family to the end.

Bill passed away in 2010. Charlotte remained in the home where they built their life together, living out her final years there with her son David and his guide dog, Latin. She was able to celebrate her 100th birthday in that same house earlier this year, surrounded by friends and family.

Charlotte’s life spanned an extraordinary stretch of history — from carrying in water from the spring, making trips to the outhouse in all kinds of weather, reading by lantern light at night, all the way to a world being transformed by artificial intelligence — and she met it all with curiosity, grace, and an unshakable strength of character.

Charlotte is survived by her three sons, Bryan (Sally), David, and Steven (Tricia); her grandchildren, Derek, Anna, Harrison (wife, Kate), Sadie, Griffin, Hunter, Beau, Bryce, and Kristie; her great-grandchildren, Gabriel and Grace; and her younger brother, P.G. West, Jr. (wife, Gen), of Surry County. She was preceded in death by her husband, William “Bill” Yates, and her brothers, Melvin and Kempter.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 am on December 19, 2026, at Surry Baptist Church, the church Charlotte joined in 1936 and where she and Bill were married twelve years later. Interment will follow immediately at Old Brick Church cemetery at Bacon's Castle, VA. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.