Yvonne Thompson Mccaskill

Doris “Yvonne” McCaskill, 85, passed away Dec. 31, 2023 at home surrounded by her family. Daughter of Risdon Webster and Ariel Cole Thompson, she was born in Hoke County on April 18, 1938. Born to a sharecropping family, Yvonne spent her early life working on the farm, cooking, and enjoying time with her eight siblings.

After moving around for several years, her family finally settled on a farm of their own in the Samarcand community just outside Candor, NC. As she grew older, she attended Candor High School where she was the first girl from the school to be selected for the All-State Basketball Team of the Greensboro Daily News. It was also during this time she met Joel McCaskill, her high school sweetheart and the love of her life. They married in 1957 and spent the next 62 years together. Their marriage produced three children: Doris, Nita, and Tim. Yvonne loved cooking and was the manager of the East Montgomery High School cafeteria for 35 years. During her tenure she fed thousands of students and adopted dozens of “youngins” to work with her in the cafeteria. She loved each of her students and did her best to make sure no one went hungry. When she wasn’t cooking, Yvonne loved to plant flowers, write, play the piano, and travel to her mountain house in Celo. She and Joel also planted massive gardens to provide fresh produce for their friends and family.

Yvonne was known for her loving personality throughout her life. She never met a stranger and instilled a love of fellowship and caring for others to her entire family. Cooking was her favorite way of showing love. She was a true disciple and a follower of Jesus. Yvonne was a founding member of Tabernacle Baptist Church where she spent many years singing in the choir and feeding campers at the Living Water Summer Camp. Yvonne is preceded in death by her husband Joel, sisters Ruth, Mary, and Mozelle, and brothers Roger and Jerry.

She is survived by daughters Doris Whitley (Jack) and Nita McKinney (Lee), son Tim McCaskill (Julie), grandchildren Ben (Lauren), Amber, Karla (Drew), Clay, Max, Jessi (Paul), and Mary Beth, great-grandchildren Charlie, Owen, Brighton, Ezra, and Kenna, sister Joann, and brothers Claude and Hugh.

Funeral Service will be 11:00 AM Saturday, January 6, 2024 at Tabernacle Baptist Church, with Pastor Michael Free officiating.  Burial will follow in the Tabernacle Baptist Church Cemetery.  The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 PM Friday at Tabernacle Baptist Church.

Memorials may be made to the Living Water Christian Camp, P.O. Box 400, Candor, NC 27229.