Arlene Rose Rand Yinger

Arlene Rose Rand Yinger
January 15, 1947- January 17, 2022

Rose Arlene Rand was born in Portland, Oregon to Harold and Maxine (Best) Rand, the second of four children. She changed her name to Arlene in second grade after too much teasing since Rosie was also the name of the Portland Zoo’s newly acquired elephant. About this time the family relocated to Payette, Idaho.

Her parents divorced, forcing her mom into working full-time and raising four children alone. Because of these challenges, the kids went to live at the Christian Children’s Home in Boise. Some of Arlene’s lifelong friendships were made during these years and it was also when she became grounded in her faith in Christ. The kids still saw their mom all the time, attended church and other activities together on the weekends, and enjoyed vacations from time to time.

Arlene was graduated from Boise High School in 1965, where she played percussion in the marching band, and then attended Boise Bible College for a few months. She and her older sister Karen moved to San Jose, where Arlene met and married her first husband, Jim. He was drafted into the service and relocated to Ft. Hood, Texas where their first child, Becky, was born. After his service term, they moved back to Boise, became group home foster parents at the Children’s Home, and Steven, their second child, was born in 1970.

Jim and Arlene divorced and she returned to Portland and began working at Good Samaritan Hospital, first as a nurse’s aide and then as a mail clerk. It was there she met John Yinger, a hospital maintenance worker, and they married in 1977, relocating to Vancouver. John’s two children, Eric and Amy, spent alternating weekends with them and the family grew close together. Vacations were often spent camping, fishing, and waterskiing in Washington or Oregon mountains or at the coast.

Arlene worked off and on over the next couple of decades. She served as a Clark County Government mail clerk, an Avon sales lady, and an assistant for the Citizens for a Drug Free Oregon PAC, ASB Meditest, and the Vancouver School District. In 1990, Arlene worked side by side with John building a new home on his parents’ farmland near the fairgrounds and they lived there for 23 years. In 2013, they relocated to Woodland, across the street from her sister and brother-in-law, with whom she was very close.

Grandkids were truly the apple of her eye and between the four kids, she had 10 grandchildren she adored and joked around with. She also became close with her niece Dani, after her brother David’s first wife died of leukemia and they moved in with Arlene and John for a season.

John and Arlene bought a cabin near Mt. St. Helen’s which became a haven of relaxation for them, a place to hunt from and ride ATVs at, and another favorite hangout for the extended family. She served as secretary/treasurer for the Marble Mountain Homeowners Association for many years. She and John were also actively involved and developed many friendships in the churches they attended, New Hope Center in Vancouver and later, Landmark Church Battle Ground.

As John neared retirement, they began to travel more often visiting Montana, Idaho, Utah, California, Mexico, and Canada. But their favorite destination was Hawaii and they traveled there four times visiting the Big Island, Maui, Kauai, and Oahu. A memorable trip was to celebrate their mutual 70th birthdays and 40th anniversary, spending time there with Becky and Steve and their spouses.

She enjoyed playing card and board games, hosting family get togethers, cooking, swimming, and knitting. She helped compile the Rand family history stayed in close connection with the Rand and Jellum cousins. One of her greatest legacies is her keen and silly sense of humor, laughter, and not taking life too seriously.

But most of all, Arlene will be remembered for her deep and vibrant faith in Jesus Christ and her passion for worshiping Him. She told one of her grandkids, “I’ve had a lot of hard things that happened to me. But life is better because of God. When I look back on my life, I realize how much good there was because of my trust in Him.” She believed that “all that is here will pass away, but what our Heavenly Father has for us is eternal.”

Arlene was preceded in death by her mother Maxine, father Harold, sister Karen, and sister-in-law Shauna. Arlene is survived by her husband John, her brothers David (Shauna) Rand of Tucson and Jon (Melva) Rand of Donnelly, ID; her children Becky (Mike) Jackson of Ronan, MT; Steve (Tamara) Reames of Boise; Eric Yinger and Amy Yinger, both of Vancouver. She has ten grandchildren, David, Nathan, Emily, and Jeffrey (Jackson); Carter, Aliya, Mercia, and Eliana (Reames); and Madison and Camden (Yinger). She also has six great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Landmark Church Battleground on February 5 at 2 PM. Video streaming of the service will be available with details made known via Facebook to friends. Arlene will be interred at the Yale Cemetery in a private service.