Yvonne Budd Eads
Air Force. Firefights. Search and rescue. EMT. Nurse. Carpenter. Travels.
Don’t forget: A dedicated squirrelminder.
Yvonne Budd Eads did all. And more.
A life lived in full.
Yvonne was born December 24, 1944 to Robert Budd (AKA Bruno Budaszewski) and Mildred Ellen Howell in Wilmington, NC.
It was fitting that she would begin her life of sharing with identical twin Yvette Silvy Budd Hayes.
Right out of high school, Yvonne joined the Air Force. And loved it.
It was in the Air Force that she met Joseph Keith Wickline. They married and had one daughter, Sarah.
They would move to Universal City, Texas, where Yvonne joined the fire department as an active firefighter. That would not be enough. She was na EMT and member of Search and Rescue.
After earning a nursing license, Yvonne became an RN. She worked in hospitals in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Thomason General Hospital in El Paso and Ventura County Medical Center. At VCMC, Yvonne served in oncology for 15 years. She retired on disability after sustaining a back injury that required extensive surgery.
It was in El Paso that Yvonne met Derry on a blind date in August of 1992. They enjoyed their first dinner so much that, on the spur of the moment, both decided to go see a movie at a nearby theatre. It would be the first of hundreds of movie dates.
Yvonne and Derry Eads married on June 18, 1994 in El Paso. In December of 1997, they loved to Ventura. They spent vacations driving through California, made frequent visits to Las Vegas and enjoyed numerous Caribbean cruises.
She loved all animals, especially squirrels. Has a very special one named JoJo that she rehabbed from a baby. Loved VW vans. She had one in every color over the years. She was very creative. She painted in acrylics and made clay artwork. She won several awards at the Ventura County Fair. Yvonne designed and built furniture as well as the deck at her home.
An excellent seamstress, Yvonne made her daughter’s clothes and stuffed animals.
She was an excellent cook. Her specialties were spaghetti, cheese chowder and chicken noodle soup.
Yvonne leaves behind Derry, her husband of 32 years, and daughter Sarah, half-brother T. Robert Lyons, (Charlotte, N.C.), ex-half step-sister Mary Lyons of Wilmington, nieces Mary Margaret Dickens and Sue Lyons of Wilmington, nephew Tommy Lyons (Cathy) of Moorville, N.C., Kelvin and Rodney Hayes; brother and sister-in-law David and Judy Eads of Albany, N.Y.
Her family extends their thanks to Assisted Hospice, especially Penny Whigham and Alma Guzman, caregivers Bertha and Jennie and other who comforted Yvonne over the past year.
Family and friends are invited to visiting hours to be held on Tuesday evening September 15, 2026 from 5 to 8pm in the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, 757 E. Main Street, Ventura. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday September 16, 2026 at 11:00am in JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, Ventura, follow immediately by burial with Military Honors at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park, Camarillo.