Joseph “Joe” Andrew Yearick

Joseph “Joe” Andrew Yearick, age 91, of Middletown, DE, passed away peacefully at home on Monday, January 4, 2021.

Born in Helton, NC on December 14, 1929, he was a son of Samuel and Betty (Sturgill) Yearick. In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by first wife, Helen V. (McNeill) Yearick; siblings, John, James, William, Richard, and Virginia; and his beloved daughter, Joy Diane Frazer.

Joe is survived by his wife of 44 years, Leoda Wilson Yearick; daughter, Jenny Lynn Hughes (Vince) of Middletown, who doted on her father as only a daughter and nurse could; sons by marriage, Alan Wilson (Paula) and Robert Wilson (Helen), both of Newark; he also depended on his son-in-law, John Frazer of Chesapeake, VA.

Joe was a proud Pop Pop to grandchildren Jill Grant, and her husband, Chris, of Newark; John Andrew Frazer, and his wife, Julie, of Springfield, WV; Bryant Joseph Hughes, of York, PA; Kathryn Hughes, of Centereach, NY; and Teresa Rennie, and her husband, Dan, of Philadelphia, PA; Nicole Muldoon and Ashley Wilson, both of Newark, and Rob Wilson. He was a most especially proud Great Pop Pop to great-grandsons Justin Andrew Frazer, Christian Grant, Jackson Frazer, Seamus Rennie, Jordon and Lili Muldoon, Landon, Layton and Lennox, Lexi, Brianna and Kayla Wilson. Great Great Pop Pop to Jaxson and Mayzlee

Born the year of the stock market crash, Joe grew up in the years of the Great Depression, in a log home in the mountains of North Carolina.  He grew up living off the land, and provided for his family by hunting and fishing. Joe valued hard work. As a young man, he moved from North Carolina to Delaware in search of employment with Chrysler, where he worked for 32 years.  Joe was blessed with almost 39 years of retirement, and he enjoyed gardening, bowling, crabbing, fishing, watching wrestling and NASCAR, and eating coconut shrimp from Outback.

Joe was Christian by faith. He loved and served the Lord, and he lived his life by Christian example, which manifested in his devotion to his family. Joe will be dearly missed by his family, and his absence will be sorely felt by all those that loved him. Pop Pop was constant and reliable, and he was always there when his family needed him.

A visitation for family and friends will be from 10 am until 11 am on Friday, January 8, 2021, at Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home, 121 West Park Place, Newark, DE, followed by a funeral service at 11 am. Interment will be held at Head of Christiana Cemetery, Newark, DE. Masks will be required for all in attendance. 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Joe’s memory to the Sunday Breakfast Mission, 110 North Poplar Street, Wilmington, DE 19801 or to the Food Bank of Delaware (fbd.org).