Carol G. Yasko

Carol Yasko, age 84, formerly of Duquesne, Pennsylvania and most recently of Katy, Texas, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 19, 2023, in Whitetail Springs Memory Care Facility, Whitehall Borough, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She was born, Carol Hilda Graham, in Duquesne, a daughter of William Elmer Graham and Catherine Isabelle (Flister) Graham.

Carol graduated from Duquesne High School in 1957 and worked as a Librarian in the city of Duquesne’s Carnegie Library. After her marriage to her soulmate George Frank Yasko in 1960, the couple moved to Burns Heights projects in Duquesne where they welcomed their first-born son in 1961. As their family grew, they moved to a small house in West Mifflin North where many happy family memories were made. In 1970 the family of 5 moved to a more spacious house in West Mifflin South where the couple joined a bowling league and Carol became an active member of the P.H.E.N.O.T.T women’s group in Pleasant Hills. It was during this time that the family took long summer vacations traveling extensively through the American south and specifically to Houston Texas where George’s childhood friend and former fellow Marine had moved. These trips honed Carol’s organizational and planning skills as she mapped out itineraries and found creative ways to cram 5 people, and enough food, luggage and entertainments for several weeks into a station wagon. These family vacations fostered Carol’s life-long interest in photography and sparked an enduring love of travel. Then, unexpectedly in 1986 Carol’s husband was offered early retirement, and the couple decided to snatch the opportunity and moved to the small town of Katy Texas to build a new life. In Katy, Carol enjoyed lasting relationships with her friends and neighbors and became an active and longtime member of Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church. Over the next 36 years, Carol and George continued their travels to Pittsburgh and all over the United States visiting family and friends as well as many State and National Parks, enough for Carol to have filled dozens of photo albums.

In the spring of 2022 Carol and George finally returned to Pittsburgh to spend their remaining time cared for by their surviving family. After more than 60 years of marriage, Carol’s beloved George passed away in April 2022. She never recovered, passing herself only a year and a half later. Looking back on her life, Carol recently remarked to her daughter, “I was lucky your dad and I liked to do all the same things. And we really did a lot because of that! We enjoyed life.”

In addition to George, she was preceded in death by their son, John Yasko; grandson, Nathan Minoski and her sister, Betty West. She is survived by son, David (Colleen Smith) Yasko; daughter, Rebecca (Mike) Minoski; six grandchildren, Ryan (Amanda Miller) Minoski, Daniel Yasko, Shannon (Colin) Senovich, Lindsey Yasko, Ryan Smith and Madison (Jayson) Oelschlager and four great grandchildren, Delilah, Cali, Ravyn and Bentley.

Family and Friends will be received on Sunday, October 22, 2023, from 1 – 4 pm in the Stephen D. Slater Funeral Home, 1701 Route 51, Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania 15025 (412-384-0350) www.stephendslater.com. A Blessing Service for Carol will be held on Monday, October 23, 2023, in the funeral home at 10:30 am. Her burial will be held in Lebanon Church Cemetery West Mifflin, Pennsylvania immediately following the Blessing Service.

If desired, her family suggests donations in her name to a local Alzheimer's or Dementia charity of your choice.