YARNEY — Mildred Yarney, 91, of St. Marys, Ga., passed away at her residence surrounded by her family Sept. 14, 2022.
Mildred Yarney was born Feb. 10, 1931, in St. Augustine, Trinidad, in the West Indies to the late Henry and Elizabeth Gittens. She was the fifth of 10 children.
In 1956, at the age of 25, she made the journey alone to Brooklyn, N.Y., where she was welcomed by her Aunt Rose. While living with Aunt Rose, she completed both her GED and her high school diploma. She then proceeded to beauty school, where she became a licensed beautician. During this time, she met Edward A. Yarney, born in Ghana, who migrated to New York as an ambassador to the United Nations. They married in 1958. As a young married couple, while he worked at the United Nations, they had the opportunity to meet and socialize with many world leaders and public figures. Her fondest memories of this time were dining with Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makiba. In 1961, they welcomed their daughter, Zenobia “Kukua” Yarney. Soon after, Mildred decided to make a career change by attending the Helene Fuld School of Nursing, where she achieved her LPN in 1964. She continued working to further her degrees in nursing, culminating in her master’s degree in public health administration. It was during her nursing career working at the Hebrew Home for the Aged as a nursing supervisor in 1980 that she received her salvation by declaring God as the Lord and Savior of her life. She grabbed hold of her faith and never looked back. In the 50 years of her nursing career, she provided loving and compassionate care to her patients, always encouraged and supported her employees and often encouraged them to advance their educations as well. One of the most notable times of her career was caring for Henry Kissinger. She retired as a geriatric consultant.
In 1999, she relocated to the city of Kingsland in Camden County, Ga., with her daughter and granddaughter, Natalie. Moving to the South gave her the opportunity to increase the amount of time she spent on her two passions – her gardening and her faith. She was a member of Agape Christian Fellowship Church for 23 years. During those years, she was very active in the prison ministry, senior and women’s ministries as well as community outreach.
She leaves many behind to cherish her memories, including her daughter, Zenobia; granddaughter, Natalie Cordero-Yarney; siblings, Hal Gittens, Sylvia Haddaway, Barbara Blake and Joan Moreno; sisters-in-law, Mary Gittens and Ruth Gittens; and godchildren, Stephanie Allen, Yannick Darko, Dave Gittens and Allison Ryan-Powell. She also leaves behind her spiritual children, Marjorie Wilson, Dawn Drury, James Highsmith, daughter-in-love, Florinda Highsmith, Marilyn and Jimmy Smith, and Mary Tanner, and spiritual grandchildren, Franklin Ginder, Courtney Lang and Jamal Hibbert. She also leaves behind countless nieces, nephews and friends, especially, Lucille Green and Lu Walsh.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Elizabeth, and siblings, Rita Mayers, Clarence Gittens, Katherine John, Theophilus Gittens and Elva Gittens.
A visitation will be 6-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, at Agape Church in St. Marys, Ga. A memorial service will be 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 1 at Agape Church.
Allison Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.