Margaret Frances Yelle, 89, of Mattapoisett, Belmont and Norton died April 18, 2006, at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge after a short illness.
A devoted wife and mother, she was preceded in death by her husband of 37 years, Joseph E. Yelle, a retired Postmaster for Attleboro and Selectman for Norton who died in 1985.
Born Dec. 31, 1916, in Woonsocket, R.I., she was the daughter of Richard and Margaret (Haney) Hickland. She worked during World War II as a secretary at the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, R.I., and at the Veterans Administration in Providence, from 1943 through 1947.
She and Joseph married in February 1948, and after a honeymoon in Cuba the couple settled in Norton, where they raised six children. Mrs. Yelle was an active member of the town’s Garden Club, Land Preservation Society and Historical Society. Mrs. Yelle worked from 1967 to 1970 as a secretary at Wheaton College, and was a member of the Wheaton Associates, a community group. A Cub Scout den mother, she also was involved in the Parent Teachers Association.
Mrs. Yelle was a member of the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Norton and the All Saints Episcopal Church in Attleboro.
A lifelong learner, Mrs. Yelle returned to school at age 55 and in 1975 graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. After graduating, she taught elementary school for five years in Norton.
The Yelles retired to Point Connett, Mattapoisett in 1980. Mrs. Yelle was a volunteer at Tobey Hospital, an active member of the Mattapoisett Women’s Club and a member of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church.
She is survived by her sister, Ethel Dubois of Denver, Colo.; four daughters, Pamela Mannes, and her husband John, of Dartmouth; Christine Yelle of Bolton; Andrea Yelle, and her companion Mo Jahanbaksh, of Belmont; Mary Pforzheimer, and her husband Gary, of Belmont; two sons, Joseph E. Yelle Jr., and his companion Inna Johnson, of Cambridge; and Richard Yelle of Stratford, Conn.; and eight grandchildren, Tanya Mannes of San Diego, Calif., Jason Mannes of Dartmouth, David Mannes of New Bedford, Scott Yelle of New York City, Setareh Jahanbaksh-Yelle of Belmont, and Adrian, Anya and Sabrina Pforzheimer of Belmont.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 22 at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, 124 Front Street, Marion, followed by a reception at the church. Visiting hours will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 21 at Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home For Funerals, 50 County Road, Mattapoisett. The interment will be private.