Obituary for Eloise Yeager: May 30, 1945 – July 10, 2026

Yerington NV – October 17, 2026

As she wished, Eloise Yeager’s ashes were scattered in Monterey Bay California surrounded by breaching humpback whales, sea lions and sea birds.  Her sister and her family tossed in the sea flower leis and notes to her written on sand dollars.  Eloise was deeply loved and will be greatly missed.

Eloise passed on July 10^th of end stage frontal temporal degeneration. Born Eloise Stone in Payson, Utah in 1945, the rebellious little Mormon girl used to hide her shoes so she wouldn’t have to go to church and was non-participating to the end.  Eloise grew up in Fair Oaks, California near Sacramento. 

After high school, while attending beautician school, she met Kirk at Rick’s Drive-In, in Orangevale, California where she bought him a hamburger. Kirk knew a good thing, and they married in 1964 and had three children.  She was predeceased by their infant daughter Lisa, her brother Larry Stone and her parents Ralph & Verna Stone.  She is survived by her husband Kirk; son Eric (Cassey); daughter Erin Stender (Alan); granddaughter Savannah Martin (Garrett); great-granddaughter Rory Eloise Martin and granddaughter Shelby Stender; as well as her brother Clyde Stone and sister Sheri Granlee (Gary).

Eloise was a devoted wife and mother and a very proud “Nana” and “Great Nana”.

As a young working mother, Eloise represented the California Almond Growers as the Sacramento area “Queen of Transportation”.  Kirk jokingly referred to her as the “Mother Trucker of the Year”.

In 1975, construction of the Alaska pipeline drew the young family north.  Eloise was the office manager for a CPA firm in Anchorage for many years.

Eloise was up for anything!  In Alaska she started riding motorcycles solo at age fifty.  She was a softball player, a bowler and a walker.  We can picture her long walks singing to her Boston terrier companion, Muggs.  She enjoyed gardening, quilting, cooking and baking.  We miss her touch on her favorite recipes.

The couple retired in 2000 and traveled the west for two years in their RV which carried along two Harley motorcycles.  They settled in Yerington, NV in 2002 and built a new home seven miles south of town.

Eloise had a form of Frontal Temporal Degeneration (FTD).  The Yerington Senior Center was essential in keeping Eloise engaged in life and engaged in the community.  Until 2020, she volunteered for many years to serve lunches at the center.

Eloise first noticed minor speech difficulty in 2007; in 2010 she was diagnosed with the agrammatic form of Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) a rare form of FTD.  Initially affecting speech the later stages of the disease was complicated by apraxia and visual/spatial processing issues.  Eloise took in information but had difficulty getting information out.  We are grateful the progression was lengthy as most patients progress at a much quicker rate.

In 2011 Eloise volunteered for research studies at Northwestern University’s Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease (MICNAD),  https://www.brain.northwestern.edu/ in Chicago.  She made 10 trips to the center over the years and her contribution to the research has been significant.  She donated her brain to the center at end of life.  We are so proud of her.

As a research participant we received patient and caregiver counseling.  Eloise received a referral to a speech therapist appropriate for PPA in which she participated for seven years.  Her contribution to the research was fulfilling for her and helped in coping with her predicament.

In remembrance, donations can be made to the Yerington Senior Center or the Mesulam Institute.