Born in the sawmill town of Suggsville, Alabama, Preston was the youngest child of Rebecca and Marion Yonge. The family relocated to Citronelle where, early on, Preston discovered the value of hard work. Morning chores included toting wood, collecting eggs, and milking the family cows – all before heading off for school. The son of a livestock trader, a teenage Preston was a true cowboy, albeit without the Stetson and boots. On horseback, he helped his father drive cattle from Sims Chapel to Citronelle. The experiences built a work ethic guided by the aphorism “Don’t mind the mule, load the wagon.”
Preston graduated from Citronelle High School in 1948. During the Korean War, Preston served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in occupied Germany. Upon returning home he worked for the GM&O Railroad, wiring poles from St. Louis to Chicago. Preston married Ann Clark in 1954 and the couple settled in Mobile where they raised three children. There he took a job with Hill-Soberg Electric, eventually rising to company president. After retirement from Hill-Soberg, Preston worked as a sales & application engineer for Appleton/Emerson Electric Co.
Never one to be idle, Preston volunteered with the Kiwanis Club, was an avid golfer, a long-time member of the Country Club of Mobile, and a congregant of Dauphin Way United Methodist Church. He spent more than a decade as a scout master for the Boy Scouts of America. He led Mobile area scouts to two national jamborees and taught dozens of young men, including his sons, how to be self-sufficient. He dispensed similar advice to his daughter Becky, while offering unwavering love. She reciprocated that love by caring for Preston in the last year of his life.
Following Ann’s death, Preston married Barbara Tonsmeire. The couple spent many fall weekends on the road to Tuscaloosa to watch the Crimson Tide. A man to whom family meant everything, Preston cherished the hours passed with his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, especially those times spent with them among the longleaf pines of Washington County.
Preston was preceded in death by his first wife Ann Clark Yonge, his son Steven Emory Yonge, his second wife Barbara Tonsmeire Yonge, his son-in-law Vic Sherrill, and his siblings Louise Hentschel, Marion Yonge, and Jean Mann. He is survived by his children Dr. Lynn E. Yonge (Cori), Rebecca Yonge Sherrill, his daughter-in-law Cyndee Guesnard Yonge, step-children Patricia Tonsmeire Lubitz, and Susan Diane Johnson (Steven), grandchildren Preston Colby Yonge (Charlotte), Emory Ann Yonge (Kendal), Ann Elissa Yonge, Genna Rose Yonge, Melanie Lubitz Gilstrap (Walt) and Sarah Elizabeth Lubitz. He also leaves behind beloved nieces and nephews, great granddaughter Emma Kate Yonge and her sister Stevie Ann Molsbee, who took her first breath just hours after Preston’s last.
A celebration of Preston’s life will be held Saturday, February 24, 2024 at Radney Funeral Home, Mobile. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. Funeral services will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow at Pinecrest Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to the charity of your choice.
