Obituary for Lawrence "Rex" Yarnell

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego, California;
publication date: June 16, 2002.

On the verge of being drafted into the Army, Lawrence "Rex" Yarnell explored an option that reflected his interest in aviation: flight training in the Navy. He applied, passed the required exams and received his wings during World War II. It marked the beginning of a 31-year naval career that saw him fly bombing missions, earn a Legion of Merit and rise to captain.

Capt. Yarnell, whose final duty post was North Island Naval Air Station, died May 26, 2002 at his Coronado home. He was 82. The cause of death was congestive heart failure, said his wife, Kathryn.

After serving as a flight instructor in Miami, Capt. Yarnell was transferred to a bombing squadron and flew missions in the Atlantic and Pacific. In 1945, while assigned to the aircraft carrier Bennington, he took part in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns and strikes on the Japanese mainland. "He loved to fly, and everything he did in the Navy involved flying," his wife said. The Korean War found Capt. Yarnell in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier Leyte. He also had been attached as an assistant operations officer to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 37 and assigned to the Western Pacific aboard the carriers Philippine Sea and Yorktown. From 1960 to 1962, he served as executive officer of the carrier Oriskany.

When he retired from active duty at 52, Capt. Yarnell joined a partner, William Davis, in buying and rehabilitating small homes in East San Diego. He would sell the homes to first-time buyers at below-market prices, requiring no down payment. "It worked well, because the buyers took pride in their homes and built up equity," his wife said. "He took great pleasure in that." In the early 1980s, Capt. Yarnell took up pottery as a hobby and designed pots for flower arranging and other uses. He built a studio on his Coronado property and developed his own glazes.

A surgery performed in 1985 to loosen pinched nerves in his neck left him with restricted mobility in his arms and caused other complications. He was forced to give up pottery. "Doctors only gave him about seven years to live, and he amazed everybody," his wife said. "He didn't complain; he was determined to get on with life."

Capt. Yarnell bought 11 acres in the Lakeside area in 1986, converting it into a horse-boarding facility known as Hazy Meadow Ranch. Today, his daughter, Linda Yarnell Hayes, boards about 70 horses there. As a member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, Capt. Yarnell was instrumental in plans to create a memorial wall to honor deceased members of the congregation. The 9-foot-tall, 40-foot-long wall was created in 1979 by ceramists Rhoda Lopez and Gerald Thiebolt.

Capt. Yarnell, who bought his Coronado home in 1953, was born in Little River, Kan. He was a graduate of George Washington University and previously attended Pasadena City College, the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Wichita (Wichita State University).

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Kathryn; and daughter, Linda Yarnell Hayes of Lakeside.

A memorial service/celebration of life is scheduled for 3 p.m. June 23, 2002 at Hazy Meadow Ranch, Lakeside.