In Memory: Rachel Yingling

[Ajane]

I did not know Rachel, but we shared the same hometown newspaper. So when I came across her obit posted in today's paper, I knew I needed to share it with all of you who knew and loved her. RIP, Rachel. Another gone too soon.

Rachel Ann Yingling, adored daughter, sister and friend, died June 11, 2015 in Winslow after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
She is survived by her parents, Keith Yingling and Sara Sanderson; her siblings, Sara, Emma, Jesse and Leslie Yingling; her nephews, Jack and Keith Nix, all of Winslow; and a deep, loving network of other family and friends.
Rachel, born in Winslow on September 24, 1984, was a proud Winslow Squirrel, earned her bachelor's degree in Spanish and International Relations at the University of Arkansas, where she was a Bodenhamer Fellow, graduated Summa Cum Laude and won a Fulbright grant to teach in Spain. She earned two master's degrees, in transatlantic relations and diplomacy, from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the Diplomatic School of Spain, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She went to work at the U.S. Department of Labor as a Presidential Management Fellow and continued there as a budget analyst, making Washington, D.C. her home for the past several years.
Rachel was a math whiz, a devoted Ultimate player, and a "very liberal" Democrat who worked proudly from abroad on Obama's first campaign for president. She was a costume enthusiast, dressing up not only for Halloween but on many other occasions – while visiting historical and cultural landmarks, or picking up friends from the airport. She was compelling as Raggedy Ann, Peter Pan, and Nascar Barbie, but she was most captivating as herself.
She loved proper grammar, reading books for all ages, crowd-surfing, and singing and dancing with her family. She loved music, and she cried when she saw Willie Nelson live in concert. On holidays at home, she made Spanish tortilla for breakfast and the best croquetas from the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. She helped organize her hometown's first local recycling program. Her core values were peace, sustainability and perfection. She was always right.
Rachel was always willful and adventurous. Even after her stage III diagnosis in 2011, and with the generous encouragement of her colleagues and friends who helped her to continue to see the world, she walked around Italy with a broken foot, went skiing in Montana and rock climbing in Utah, swam off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, bungee jumped over the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls in Zambia, took blimp ride in New Jersey, rode a camel near Dubai, snorkeled in Mexico, and attended (in costume, of course) an annual American history road trip. She found a wonderful, warm community of support in FirstDescents, which provides outdoor adventure for cancer survivors, and Chris4Life Colon Cancer Foundation, which helped to make possible her final trip home to Arkansas. She spent her final days and weeks resting and watching childhood favorite movies with her family.
Many of Rachel's loved ones will gather to celebrate her life of brave adventure on Saturday, September 5, 4 p.m., outside at Ozark Folkways on Mount Gaylor in Winslow. Anyone attending should come casually dressed with a chair or blanket to sit on and a healthy sense of humor.
Gifts can be made in Rachel's memory to Chris4Life Colon Cancer Foundation (http://www.chris4life.org) or to FirstDescents, a support group providing outdoor adventure for cancer (firstdescents.org).

[texazgal]

http://www.arkansasonline.com/obituarie ... 015-09-01/
Lovely girl.^^^
She put a lot of living in those 30 years. We might even be related, as I share her mother's name. R.I.P. Rachel!

[Lee]

Rest in peace. Way to young. My condolences to her family and friends.

Lee

[Nik Colon]

Very sorry

[jillbugs4110]

Wow

She is awesome. I loved reading about her passionate life..we should all be so lucky to have lived such a life full of passion.

She is my courage.
Jill

[DarknessEmbraced]

So sorry. May she rest in peace. My deepest condolences to her family and friends.