Sally Jane Yarbrough

Sally Jane (Oylear) Yarbrough, 71, passed away at her home in Long Beach on May 21, 2022. She was born in Inglewood, CA on December 10, 1950 to Dallas and Darlene (Emmertson) Oylear and grew up nearby in Gardena. She is preceded in death by her parents and brother Bruce. Sally is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Kim (Yarbrough) and Steuard Jensen, granddaughter Phoebe, sister Becky, brother Dwight and his wife Kim, and many nieces and nephews.

Sally lived her life in the greater Los Angeles area and was a dedicated Dodger fan, and a Beatles fan since day one (Ringo was her favorite). She graduated from Gardena High in 1969 and completed her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at CSU Dominguez Hills in 1990 after an extended hiatus to start a family. Her fulfilling career in accounting spanned over 20 years in multiple fields with most of those years devoted to the moving industry. On her 70th birthday she treated herself to the gift of retirement.

An avid reader, Sally loved adventures of storytelling and lifelong learning. Her broad knowledge and interests led to engaging conversations with people of all ages, and she was the family’s go-to person for math tutoring and late-night homework calls. She always enjoyed travel, whether visiting friends in England, cruising Norwegian fjords with her daughter, or taking grand cross-country road trips to see the nation and search out family history.

All her life, Sally was an enthusiastic animal lover, with at least one dog or cat in the house for most of the last 50 years. She had a remarkable talent for instantly bonding with the one lonely animal at the rescue center who shied away from all other visitors. Her animals were family.

Sally was a daughter, sister, aunt, mom, and friend, but her favorite role was that of grandmother. Every gathering began with her opening her tablet to show you pictures of her granddaughter. Lend her an ear, and this proud grandma would share endless stories about her and about her animals.

She was a strong woman of faith and a longtime member of Parkcrest Christian Church. A memorial service will take place on Sunday, June 5th at 3:00pm at Parkcrest’s Worship Center located at 5950 Parkcrest Street, Long Beach, CA, 90808. Floral deliveries accepted at this address an hour before the service.

In lieu of flowers: we encourage donations in her memory to Live Love Animal Rescue at liveloveanimalrescue.org or other local rescue groups in your area.