Annabelle Lorene Yount

    Annabelle Lorene Yount, age 77, of St. Louis, MI, passed away Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at Woodland Hospice House, Mt. Pleasant, MI.
     A Memorial Service will be held at the Ithaca Seventh Day Adventist Church, 935 North Pine River, Ithaca, MI 48847, at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday, July 11, 2026, with Pastor Royce Snyman officiating. The service will be live streamed on the church YouTube page as well.
     In December of 1947, their first daughter, Ann Elizabeth, was born in the Butler Hospital. But their joy was short-lived when she died after a difficult birth. “You do what you gotta do,” and Loren and Betty picked themselves up and got on with their lives. Their grief was soothed when (Annabelle) Lorene was born 11 months later, in November of 1948, followed by (Sarah) Louise in April of 1950.
     When the girls were still very young, the family moved to a small cottage by a lake in Butler. The little girls spent long days playing in the water and the woods.
     But Loren and Betty had bigger plans. In the summer of 1955, they sold the cottage, loaded all their earthly possessions into the 1951 Chevy Belair and a 26-foot house trailer, and headed for Denver, CO. Lorene was ready to start school, and her parents wanted her to attend a Christian school. “You do what you gotta do.”
     They arrived in Denver on Labor Day weekend–just one day before Lorene started school at Denver Junior Academy. They lived in that tiny trailer until the spring of 1957, when they moved into one of the hundreds of “cracker boxes” that dotted the landscape, housing the thousands of “baby boomers.”
     Things were not easy for the shy little girl with braids and country ways. She carefully watched everything that went on in the classroom. Observing the people around her, and getting to know them, she found her path. Instead of trying to break into the cliques that were already formed, she befriended new students and “outcasts.” This would carry through her life. She had a unique talent for getting to know people and building a group of friends.
     Lorene was not a scholar by nature, but she was a born teacher. When she learned something new at school, she could hardly wait to get home to teach her little sister. She took piano lessons reluctantly and hated practicing. But if someone came along who was interested, she would sit down at the piano and start teaching them the notes.
     Though Betty never got the chance to attend college, she was determined that her daughters would, no matter the cost. “You do what you gotta do.” Lorene graduated from Mile High Academy in 1967 and started Union College in the fall. She and her parents worked hard to pay the tuition, and Lorene graduated with a degree in elementary education in 1972. Her first teaching job was in a Christian elementary school in Colorado Springs CO.
     While attending Union College, she met a dashing young man from Wyoming. Lorene married Earnest Yount in March of 1973. Ernie soon went to work driving for Rhodes Bake-n-Serve out of Campion Academy in Loveland, and Lorene took a job in a new nearby Christian elementary school. “You do what you gotta do.”
     When Ernie was transferred to Cedar Lake Academy in MI, Lorene took a job at the Adventist school in Mt Pleasant.
     Roy Loren was born into this family in 1979, and Kenneth Lee was born in 1983. Lorene took some time away from classroom teaching to raise the boys. Ernie was on the road as a cross-country driver for much of their married life.
     Lorene taught in several Adventist schools in Michigan, including Plymouth, where she spent the first few weeks of school teaching under the trees because the building wasn’t finished. “You do what you gotta do.” She later taught at Metro-Detroit, Owosso and Petoskey.
     Lorene’s interests included bargain hunting and bird watching. She was an avid “yard saler,” known to pass up a sale that she could tell by the scent had no children’s clothes or toys. She prided herself on finding bargains!
     Bird watching was a thread that carried throughout her life, giving her reasons to be outside, and an interest to share with her friends. Even in her last days, she was delighted to see the birds outside her window at the hospice facility.
     She retired in 2014 after 30 years of teaching in the Seventh-day Adventist school system, but never lost her heart for teaching. If she met someone who expressed an interest in spiritual things, she would offer Bible studies. During the Covid shutdown, she led conference calls with friends who were interested in reading uplifting religious books together. “You do what you gotta do.”
     When Earnest’s health necessitated that he go into an assisted living facility in 2022, Lorene was left to sell their home and property and downsize to an apartment in Lansing. Later she relocated to St. Louis MI, to be closer to Ernie, and Ken and his family. “You do what you gotta do.”
     Lorene didn’t have an easy life, but it was a good one. The friends, Bible study partners, and students to whom she gave her time, attention, and love will remember her laugh, her patience, and the creative ways she found to make others feel included and important. Over the past few months/years, as we reminisced, she reminded me of our mother’s unofficial motto, “You do what you gotta do.”
     Lorene is survived by her husband Earnest, her two sons Roy (Leika) and Ken (Alison); her granddaughter Katelyn; her step-granddaughter Claire; her grandson Alton; and her sister Louise (Cary) Corbin. She is also survived by her church family and many friends and neighbors; and students who learned that the proper response to the teacher is “Yes, Mrs. Yount.” And she went to sleep with the knowledge that the next face she would see, would be that of the ultimate teacher, Jesus, her Savior, and friend.
     Memorials may be made to Ithaca Seventh Day Adventist School. Online condolences can be sent to www.smithfamilyfuneralhomes.com. The family is being served by Smith Family Funeral Homes, Ithaca, Michigan.

 Memorials may be made to Ithaca Seventh Day Adventist School. Online condolences can be sent to www.smithfamilyfuneralhomes.com. The family is being served by Smith Family Funeral Homes, Ithaca, Michigan.