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Photo Susan Rand Brown
Shirley Yater in her late husband George Yater’s studio. |
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Artist & poet Shirley Pell Yater dies at 95
By Sue Harrison
Banner Staff
Shirley Pell Yater, 95, of Truro died Saturday, Oct. 20 at her home. She had been ill for a brief amount of time and was surrounded by her family at the end.
She was the wife of the late artist George Yater.
Shirley was a fixture in Truro and Provincetown in both the art world and, in later years, sitting on the board at the Truro Council on Aging. Her carefully groomed white hair that circled her head like a soft halo and her slightly frail-sounding voice belied her energy, which remained strong well into her 90s. She took up poetry, pottery and photography in her 80s as well as continuing to rediscover her painting, something she put aside in order to raise a family and nurture the career of her husband. In 1998 she was named senior citizen of the year by the Truro COA.
Parts of her life read like a storybook. She came from a well-to-do New York family and when her parents divorced, her mother moved Shirley and her sister into Washington, D.C.’s Woodman Park Hotel, where they lived for the next five years. The girls often tortured other guests by dropping water on them from the balconies or banging on their doors and then running away.
She later moved back to New York to live with her father and stepmother. Her mother moved to the Cape and the girls then joined her there, but life got a jolt when the handsome George Yater took an interest in Shirley. Soon both she and George were studying art with Henry Hensche and life with each other. She was sent on a cruise to break up the romance but that didn’t work. They began to live together and married in 1938 after pressure from her married sister. The Yaters had a son, David Yater, and a daughter, Marjorie Pell Yater.
George was active in the beginnings of the Provincetown Art Association and Shirley had a variety of jobs. Over the years she ran a guest house, a gallery and later the Truro Chamber of Commerce information booth. She was a seamstress and made dresses for her sister’s shop in Wellfleet and at Tiny Worthington’s Fishnet Store in Truro.
During the pricey summers the Yaters left the Cape, returning each fall to find rentals they could afford. In 1964 they finally bought a house in Truro, and George had a studio out back that Shirley kept up after his death in 1993 as if he might come in and set up his palette any time.
She traveled with friends and with the travel group from the Art Association when they went to Russia.
Bouts of ill health including a mastectomy barely slowed her down. She loved to give a beautiful luncheon for friends, was ever-gracious, and was a good friend who will be missed by many.
In addition to her son and daughter, she is survived by grandsons Dylan and Nathaniel Gould and a granddaughter, Carla Yater.
At her request, no funeral was held. She will be interred in the family plot in Truro and a celebration of her life will be held at a later date. Donations may be made to VNA Hospice, 434 Route 134, Suite G1, South Dennis, MA, 02660.
Shirley’s longtime friend Marilyn Miller contributed to this obituary.
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Ruth Clark, 86
David Carroll, 60
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Nov 1st, 2007