Mrs. Edna Earle Tyler Yates, age 79 of Chadbourn died Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at Liberty Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Whiteville. Born in Mullins, SC, she was the daughter of the late Daniel Mark and Julia Britt Tyler and the beloved wife of Rufus Glenn Yates. She was preceded in death by three sisters, Betty Jane Tyler, Gladys Tyler Dyal, and Louise Tyler Turbeville and four brothers, Bisco Tyler, Daniel Mark Tyler, Jr., Lloyd Lee Tyler, and Wattie Jackson Tyler. Edna leaves behind a great void in the lives of her dear family, friends, and community. She was a life long civic servant to her town, community, and church. She began her service as a nurse with Columbus County Hospital, when she married a sailor boy, Glenn Yates in June of 1949. She continued her healthcare skills raising three children, and caring for many ageing aunts and uncles. She worked many years for Lt. Governor Jimmy Greene in the tobacco warehouse industry; finally retiring, to years of volunteer service in scouting, the Red Cross, Chadbourn Womens Club, the Garden Club, the Chadbourn Depot Museum, Chadbourn Revitalization and Beautification, serving on the board of directors for the NC Strawberry Festival, and the Chadbourn United Methodist Church. Her last love was for the Grand Ole Gospel- Tuesday night sing. Final rites will be conducted 2:00 p.m. Friday, July 3, 2009 at Worthington Funeral Home with Reverend Justice McKeel and Dr. Ray L. Lundy officiating. Interment will follow in the Piney Forest Baptist Church Cemetery. Survivors include her husband, Rufus Glenn Yates; a daughter, Anna Yates Odham and her husband Dr. Leonard R. Odham, Jr. of Fair Bluff; two sons, Glenn Arthur Yates of Savannah, GA and William Rufus Yates and his wife, Nan of High Point; one sister, Mary Catherine King and her husband Jeff of Avon Park, FL; and one sister-in-law, Ruby Yates Johnston of Chadbourn. Six grandsons and two great-grandsons, Leonard Austin Odham and wife, Erica Lee and sons, Luke Hudson Odham and Jacob Lee Odham of Clarkton, NC, Leonard Brandon Odham of Wilmington, NC, Leonard Aaron Odham of Raleigh, NC, William Rufus Yates, Jr. of New York, NY, Robert Parker Yates of Raleigh, NC, and Andrew Mercer Yates of Chapel Hill, NC. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Chadbourn United Methodist Church, Post Office Box 352, Chadbourn, NC 28431 or to the Chadbourn Depot Museum, Post Office Box 100, Chadbourn, NC 28431. Visitation will be held 7-9 p.m. Thursday at Worthington Funeral Home (www.worthingtonfuneralhome.com) in Chadbourn. No service information has been added.