The last family owned funeral home in Thurston County.

In 1951 at age 19 she married the love of her life, Phillip James Conway. They were married 61 years before his passing in 2012. Yvonne passed on what would have been Phil’s 98^th birthday on February 22, 2024. We’d like to think he couldn’t spend another birthday without her and came to pick up his sweetheart and take her dancing like they did for so many years together. 

They had four children, Curtiss Lee (Pilar), Lucinda Dawn (Earl), Craig Phillip (Karen) and Clayton James (Christi). Their legacy continued with 8 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandson. When asked about her great-grandchildren, she would always say “This just proves if you live long enough, you’ll be great at something.” Yvonne’s brother Don passed away at 23 years old. Don left two daughters Shirley Ann (Steve) and Linda. They were folded into the family with their 4 children and 4 grandchildren. 

Yvonne grew up in a logging/hunting family. She was an expert shot and a very capable outdoors woman. She rode horses and took on all the responsibilities of taking care of their farm even cooking homemade dog food for the 21 specialty hunting hound dogs (DAMN DOGS). Out of high school, Yvonne went to beauty school on a scholarship. She used her hair cutting skills for over 60 years. She founded and ran her own in-home hair business and even offered mobile hair services for homebound clients. 

In 1950, she entered the Lake Sammamish 25-mile bicycle race and won first place. She was also the Redmond Derby Queen that same year. 

They lived in Redmond for a couple years, sold their property and moved to Seattle. Eventually they moved to Lacey in 1964 buying their home on Phil’s VA loan. Phil went into business with his brother at the Olympia Novelty Company. Later, Phil bought his brother out of the company and Yvonne worked as his partner side by side in the business and did all the accounting. 

Being business owners meant there was little time to get away. Phil encouraged Yvonne to find something on the water so they could have quality family time together nearby. In 1968, Yvonne found a pink cabin on Holmes Island. The family would spend their summers swimming, boating and making memories. During the off season, she would rent it out to help cover the taxes. Eventually, they moved to the lake fulltime. 

Yvonne and Phil started hosting family reunions at the lake in 1971 on both sides (Conway and Johnson) which we still do for the last 53 years and counting. Family meant everything to them. 

Yvonne was an entrepreneur. She invented a shampoo tray that is still in use today. She was an expert seamstress and could swing a hammer with the best of them. No one could use a shovel like Yvonne Conway. She loved being in the yard and valued manual labor. She was a published author and was well known for writing letters to the editor in the Daily Olympian. Yvonne was a jack of all trades who could make or repair anything. She hated waste and would always say, “What can we do with what we’ve got.”

Yvonne was a no-nonsense lady and had a dry sense of humor. We all got a kick out of her answering machine message that spoke volumes about her personality. She said, “Yvonne here and don’t hang up. I’ve purchased this irritating machine because I can’t stand to miss anything.” She made us laugh and made us better by her example. 

Phil and Yvonne loved their country. They believed in marriage and family. They valued working hard with no handouts, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and quit-your-bitchin’ type mentality. 

She would always say, “it’s a great life if you don’t weaken,” “livin’ and lovin’ is a helluva lot of hard work” and she never missed a chance to say, “love ya, love ya.” 

The whole family would like to thank Zeni and Ed Ravancho, Dariek and Wilma for their wonderful care they gave fulltime to Yvonne for her last two years. Their love and compassion for our mother will never be forgotten. 

Those that knew Yvonne loved her for her strong spirit and practical nature. In keeping with those thrifty values, she was adamant about not having a public service. She wouldn’t want us to waste our money on flowers anyway. Yvonne never started a project that she didn’t finish. She would say, get off your butt and go pull weeds, swing a hammer, or pour some concrete. DO SOMETHING! Take pride in your home, love your family, and never forget that you all come from strong sturdy stock.