Former longtime resident, mother of Harvard man
Ada “Robin” Yates, who lived in Harvard from 1964 to 2007, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, at Carlton-Willard in Bedford, Mass.
Robin grew up in a military family that lived on Army bases in Ft. Sill, Okla., Ft. D. A. Russell, Wyo., the Philippines, and Korea. After graduating from Colorado College, she spent her time in Washington, D.C., working at the Pentagon while attending graduate school.
In 1952, she married G. Kenneth Yates and started a family in Chicago, Ill. After having four boys, the family moved to Harvard in 1964. Robin volunteered her time at the Fort Devens Army Hospital during the Vietnam War and was a longtime volunteer at the Bromfield School.
Robin was an avid bird watcher who had a tremendous love and appreciation for nature. She spent many summers in Grand Lake, Colo., at her great-grandfather’s cabin on the lake.
Robin moved out of her Harvard home in 2007 and moved to Carlton-Willard, a retirement community, where she enjoyed the company of many friends.
She is survived by her sister, Edith Ward Spalding of Virginia; George and Nancy Yates of Maynard, Mass., and their three children, Charles, Robin, and Michael; Charles Yates and Pamela Murnane of Seattle, Wash.; John Yates and Mary Buttner of Mountain View, Calif.; and James and Heidi Yates of Harvard and their three children, Jeffrey, Kendall, and Holly. She was predeceased by her former husband, G. Kenneth Yates.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Mass Audubon (http://massaudubon.org), the Rocky Mountain Nature Association (http://rmna.org) or the Harvard Conservation Trust (http://harvardconservationtrust.org).
A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, at the Unitarian Church on the Common in Harvard.
