Obituary for Mary Katherine Yelling
Mary Katherine Burnett Yelling, age 81, transitioned January 25, 2023. A native of Mobile, she was the first child born to Ernestine Anita Phifer and Norris Burnett. She was raised in the Sandtown community in Mobile and attended the Crichton School and was a proud graduate of the Class of 1958 of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic School. She attended Talladega College where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mathematics with a minor in Biology. She was raised in the Catholic Faith and was a great example of Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” She had a true dedication to educating and serving anyone she encountered, especially our youth and elders.
In 1958, a “double date” with a friend marked the beginning of a legacy of love. Mary Katherine Burnett became Mrs. Alonzo Yelling, Jr. on August 3, 1962, and to this union, two children were born. After moving around as a military couple, they settled in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, until returning to Mobile in 1975. While in Ohio, she was a stay-at-home mom not only for her children, but all of the neighborhood children. Upon her return home to Mobile, she furthered her studies at the University of South Alabama and began teaching Algebra I, Physical Science, and Biology for Mobile County Public
Schools. She taught at Mattie T. Blount and Mary G. Montgomery High Schools.
After taking time off to care for her grandmother, she worked with the United States Census, Westat, and the University of Michigan before starting a career in Social Work. She retired in 1997 from the State of Alabama as a Social Worker III with the Family and Children’s Services Unit of the Mobile County Department of Human Resources. Retirement did not
stop her desire to serve our youth. She returned to the classroom, teaching Math at the Phoenix Program, a project of the 100 Black Men of America, Mobile Chapter.
Throughout her adult life, she had many interests, including several that she was passionate about. Her knowledge of and curiosity about the backgrounds of her family and community, along with her calm spirit, enabled her to conduct interviews and chronicle the lives of day workers. She was the interviewer and advisor for the 1988 publication of Telling Memories Among Southern Women: Domestic Workers and Their Employers in the Segregated South, compiled by Susan Tucker. She loved reading, fishing, and collecting coins and antiques. Besides these pursuits, she loved to laugh and to have fun.
She was definitely royalty – she was known as the “Coupon Queen” and the “Queen of the Machines!” (She should have had her personal Key to the City of Biloxi, MS!) Her royal titles continued until her passing.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alonzo Yelling, Jr, parents Ernestine Anita Phifer and Norris Burnett, and her sister Elizabeth (Betty) Jean Hunter.
She leaves to cherish her memories her children, Carolyn (Errol) Watts, and Alonzo III (Brenda) Yelling; sisters-in-law Grace Y. Wyatt, Hattie Y. Johnson, Carolyn Y. Davis, and Iris (Herman) Taylor, brothers-in-law Willie Watson and Willman Plummer; grandchildren, Marcus (Kaleena) Watts, Errol (Danielle) Watts, Dr. Vandrea (Gabriel) Watts-Evans, and Kayla Watts; great grandchildren Zander, Isaiah, Makenna, Makenzie, Jadon, Kendall and De’Jah, “adopted” children Denise (Frank) Alexander, Angela Robinson, and Shannon Moorer; close friends: Celeste Hill and Elaine Cannon, devoted cousin Pat (Vension) Smith, loving niece and caregiver Irmatean McConico, loving friend and caregiver Joyce C. Jackson,
and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and neighbors.
In 1958, a “double date” with a friend marked the beginning of a legacy of love. Mary Katherine Burnett became Mrs. Alonzo Yelling, Jr. on August 3, 1962, and to this union, two children were born. After moving around as a military couple, they settled in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, until returning to Mobile in 1975. While in Ohio, she was a stay-at-home mom not only for her children, but all of the neighborhood children. Upon her return home to Mobile, she furthered her studies at the University of South Alabama and began teaching Algebra I, Physical Science, and Biology for Mobile County Public
Schools. She taught at Mattie T. Blount and Mary G. Montgomery High Schools.
After taking time off to care for her grandmother, she worked with the United States Census, Westat, and the University of Michigan before starting a career in Social Work. She retired in 1997 from the State of Alabama as a Social Worker III with the Family and Children’s Services Unit of the Mobile County Department of Human Resources. Retirement did not
stop her desire to serve our youth. She returned to the classroom, teaching Math at the Phoenix Program, a project of the 100 Black Men of America, Mobile Chapter.
Throughout her adult life, she had many interests, including several that she was passionate about. Her knowledge of and curiosity about the backgrounds of her family and community, along with her calm spirit, enabled her to conduct interviews and chronicle the lives of day workers. She was the interviewer and advisor for the 1988 publication of Telling Memories Among Southern Women: Domestic Workers and Their Employers in the Segregated South, compiled by Susan Tucker. She loved reading, fishing, and collecting coins and antiques. Besides these pursuits, she loved to laugh and to have fun.
She was definitely royalty – she was known as the “Coupon Queen” and the “Queen of the Machines!” (She should have had her personal Key to the City of Biloxi, MS!) Her royal titles continued until her passing.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alonzo Yelling, Jr, parents Ernestine Anita Phifer and Norris Burnett, and her sister Elizabeth (Betty) Jean Hunter.
She leaves to cherish her memories her children, Carolyn (Errol) Watts, and Alonzo III (Brenda) Yelling; sisters-in-law Grace Y. Wyatt, Hattie Y. Johnson, Carolyn Y. Davis, and Iris (Herman) Taylor, brothers-in-law Willie Watson and Willman Plummer; grandchildren, Marcus (Kaleena) Watts, Errol (Danielle) Watts, Dr. Vandrea (Gabriel) Watts-Evans, and Kayla Watts; great grandchildren Zander, Isaiah, Makenna, Makenzie, Jadon, Kendall and De’Jah, “adopted” children Denise (Frank) Alexander, Angela Robinson, and Shannon Moorer; close friends: Celeste Hill and Elaine Cannon, devoted cousin Pat (Vension) Smith, loving niece and caregiver Irmatean McConico, loving friend and caregiver Joyce C. Jackson,
and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and neighbors.