YVONNE LOUISE SALAY-TYSON
Mar. 8, 1989 – Nov. 3, 2012
“When I met Yvonne it wasn’t long after my father (had) passed away and I was very depressed … Yvonne taught me how to love instead of hate. She was so free-spirited … it was just contagious. Within a week of meeting Yvonne, I went from being this really dark, angry person to… just a joy to be around. I didn’t wanna be angry any more. I wanted to smile.”
This statement was shared by one young man at Yvonne’s Celebration of Life and in many ways, it aptly expresses the spirit that radiated from this young woman. I have met people blessed with charisma before, but Yvonne took charisma to a whole new level. As several speakers made clear, we were instantly drawn to her, and were better for the encounter. Yvonne had a welcoming, easygoing nature – you knew you would not be judged.
Yvonne was a child, about 13 years old, when I arrived in Springfi eld 10 years ago. Even then, she was a bright presence among the youth of the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation; she had an irresistible smile, and a heart to match.
After she graduated from Rochester High School, her life was coming into focus. Yvonne was studying Global Studies at the University of Illinois Springfi eld. She had joined Greenpeace. She was taking an interest in fi lmography. More signifi cantly, she had married Nicholas Tyson on April 7, 2012.
Nicholas shared that Yvonne had a knack for always getting any job she wanted. “The fi rst time she told me she had an interview, I wished her luck. She came back and told me she got the job. GREAT. She always had the same result. Then I asked myself, ‘How is she doing this?’ Yvonne answered by relating a time when she didn’t get a particular job with Greenpeace. She had taken the train to Chicago and realized that she was the only applicant in the waiting room without a four-year degree. Instead of excusing herself and going home, she waited her turn for her interview and went for it, fi ghting for what she wanted.”
Yvonne Louise Salay-Tyson was killed suddenly on Saturday, Nov. 3, as she was heading to work in Rushville. The driver of the other vehicle was arrested for driving under the infl uence.
All who knew her would likely agree with this assessment by Buffy Lael, one of Yvonne’s former youth advisors: “The world has lost a mighty girl, today. The world has lost a mighty girl.”
–Rev. Martin Woulfe, ALUUC with Nicholas Tyson, Terri Woodliff and Renee Houser-Anderson
