Emma Lou Morrison (Yoakum, Frazier, McGlen) passed away peacefully of Alzheimer’s disease at 85 years of age. Emma was born on July 26, 1939 at the family home in Clinton, Arkansas to Carl Delmer Morrison and Ruby Kobrick (Melton). Her family moved around a lot because of job opportunities finally landing at Eleven Mile Corner, Arizona at age 10 and later moving to Coolidge, Arizona where she would later attend Coolidge High School. High school would be where she met her first husband, Donald Lee Yoakum. They shared their vows in Arizona in 1956. During their marriage, they spent a year in Germany and later had three children before divorcing in 1962.
Emma later moved to Superior, Arizona with her second husband. There she earned her GED, and in 1971 became the owner/operator of the Hamburger King, a hamburger and Mexican food drive up. She remained in Superior until she moved to Tooele, Utah in 1975.
Emma lived in Tooele for a year before moving to Chubbuck, Idaho, where she lived for a year before moving to American Falls, Idaho. While living in Idaho, she worked as a line worker at a Simplot potato factory and at a truck stop until 1978.
In 1978, Emma moved to San Diego, California to be near to her mom and sisters. Soon she began working at General Dynamics as a missile components fabricator and later as an inspector of those same components. She retired from General Dynamics in 1994.
During her life, Emma had many accomplishments aside from her GED, including garnering a Top-secret security clearance, an electronics certification, and finishing a few college courses.
Emma found great joy in traveling and exploring the world. In fact, she succeeded in her goal of stepping foot on every continent and visiting some of the “Wonders of the World.” She loved taking her grandchildren along with her, even allowing them to determine the destination as their high school graduation gift. She loved animals, especially cats and dogs, often taking in strays. She was a regular donor to the ASPCA and Humane Society.
Emma was passionate about roses, particularly the Lucille Ball variety. She had a large rose garden that she found great pleasure in tending. She welcomed pink roses for any occasion. She was very competitive when it came to playing Canasta, Poker, and Scrabble. She would come up with some random word that nobody else would know, and the challenger would regret ever doubting or questioning her vocabulary skills.
She is survived by her daughter, Katherine Fellman (Yoakum)(Doug) of Belt, Montana; her son Billy Yoakum of Florence, Arizona; five grandchildren, Billy Yoakum, Jr., Randi Clark (Holley Fellman)(Mike), Jeremy Fellman (Julie), Staci Ragland (Fellman)(Kevin), and Johnathan Fellman (Rosenda), granddaughter-in-law, Amber Fellman (Jacob), and 12 great-grandchildren.
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