Wilma Yvonne Adkins

Our dear mother passed away at the age of 90 on Tuesday, April 26, 2016 in Monterey. Wilma Yvonne Lacanette was born on May 22, 1925, in Conrad, Montana. She was always known as Yvonne. Her parents were homesteaders in Valier, Montana. Her father, Pierre Lacanette, originally from Estialesq, France, had come to America in 1907. Her mother, Gertrude Grieger , was from a North Dakota farming family. Yvonne had a younger brother, Paul Lacanette, and she and her brother were close all their lives.

Yvonne grew up during hard times and became very resourceful at an early age. She learned to sew, knit, and crochet and her mother taught her how to cook on a wood stove. She soon became an expert seamstress and she enjoyed this hobby her entire life. She loved to sew and knit for others, and over the years family and friends were the grateful recipients of many handmade gifts of clothing, quilts, and especially her famous potholders!

When Yvonne was in her early teens, the family moved to Grants Pass, Oregon. She and her brother Paul completed their high school years at Grants Pass High School, and made many lifelong friends. When she graduated in 1944, she and her good friend Betty Jo found jobs at Boeing in Seattle over the summer, to support the war effort for the United States.

Over the next several years, Yvonne worked and travelled around the West. She worked at the Alisal Guest Ranch in Solvang, and later was an early employee of the Thunderbird Golf Resort in Palm Springs, where she met her future husband, Bill Adkins. They moved to Salinas in 1963. Bill and Yvonne were married from February 1953 until Bill’s death in 1987. They had two children, Stephen and Susan.

Yvonne loved the cool, mild climate of the Salinas area, and was often seen walking or riding her bicycle, even well in to her eighties. She was a loving and caring mother, and very proud of her children’s accomplishments. She was well known throughout the neighborhood for her sewing expertise and for her homemade bread. During her years in Salinas, she made many good friends, and she loved to get together for lunch and play card games and dominoes with the ladies.

Yvonne travelled to France for the first time in 1990 with her daughter, and she was to return several more times during that decade. She loved having the chance to meet her many Lacanette cousins and to learn about her father’s family in France.

We are grateful to have had a mom that gave us unconditional love and support throughout our lives. She was so proud of all of us, but we were very proud of her too. We will miss her very much.

We very much appreciate the care provided for our mom by Sunrise Assisted Living and the Hospice of the Central Coast.

Yvonne is survived by her son Steve (Lisa), daughter Susan Ajeska (Rich), grandchildren Jennifer Adkins and Daniel Adkins, great-grandchild Jett Adkins, step-grandchildren Craig Ajeska (Deb), Emily Wilson (Mark), and their children Ethan, Kyle, Nolan and Rose. She is also survived by her brother Paul’s children, Kerry Lacanette (Janice) and Denise Kretzinger (Rik), and their families.

At Yvonne’s request, there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Meals on Wheels, 40 Clark St., Unit C, Salinas, CA, 93901 or 700 Jewell Ave., Pacific Grove, CA, 93950 or to the donor’s favorite charity.