Wesley J. Yoder

Wesley J. Yoder, 87, of Wilmington, DE passed on March 14, 2023 from complications after a stroke.

Born September 5, 1935 in a farmhouse near Coopersburg, PA he was the youngest of the seven children of William Henry and Emma (Moatz) Yoder. He graduated valedictorian of the Coopersburg High School class of 1953. While in Coopersburg he worked at Dale Footwear and later at a gas station. He also helped out on the family farm. Circa 1958 he moved to Philadelphia and began a long career at Northeast Airlines and later at Delta. Afterwards he drove a school bus for Garnet Valley School District and then drove for Enterprise Rental Car.

In 1962 he began a fifty-five year marriage to Jane (Hollway) that produced three children: Drew, Matthew (Nancy), and Carolyn (Dan Hennings). Later the family added two grandsons: Daniel and Nathan Yoder. Wes and Jane initially settled in the Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia, then moved to Upper Chichester in Delaware County, and later still to Wilmington, DE.

Wes was active in the community working as a cub scout leader, little league coach, and with his churches. He was good with his hands, painting many classrooms, hallways, and stairwells at one church. At another church, a startup, he and his fellow congregants renovated an old barn into a sanctuary. Perhaps the sole farm boy in that crew, Wes was the only one willing to go up and patch the barn’s tin roof. Additionally, he worked on his cars, made home improvements, and even some furniture. Still the farm boy, he gardened prolifically. In the 1980s he researched his family tree, tracing his ancestors back more than 250 years and becoming the family historian for the rest of his life. He played on church bowling and softball teams and enjoyed church picnics. He enjoyed traveling with his family on his airline benefits or by car, usually to historic sites or to visit distant friends and relatives. He visited all fifty states.

Wes is survived by his three children, two grandsons, his brother and sister-in-law (life long friends), and numerous nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his wife, Jane, his parents, all but one sibling, and his daughter-in-law, Nancy.

A Visitation will be held on Saturday March 25, 2023 at 10:30 followed by a Memorial Service at 11 o’clock at Concord Liberty Presbyterian Church, 256 Bethel Rd Glen Mills, PA 19342.  Burial will be private. Wes requested no flowers, and that any memorial contributions be made to Concord Liberty Presbyterian Church.