Yolanda Diana Carbajal, 84, passed away on March 22, 2022, at the Hospice of the Valley located in Gilbert, Arizona, after a decline in her health following the passing of her husband, Frank Ruben Carbajal, nine months prior. On Aug. 12, 1937, in Morenci, Arizona, Yolanda was born to Esperanza “Palancha” Padilla and Thedoro Jimenez, owners of the Cash and Carry Market in Clifton.
Yolanda grew up in Clifton, where she attended Clifton High School. While there, she was a member of the cheerleading squad. Yolanda also found time to work at both the Martin Theater in Clifton and JC Penny’s. Life, as she would later describe, was somewhat of a fairytale, one in which a vast, tight, loving family surrounded her, rich in love, and laughter. Sundays she spent at her maternal grandmother’s, where she formed lifelong family connections and strong family bonds that lasted throughout her life. She was a daddy’s girl who thought that her father walked on water. Likewise, she was doted upon by him, and she wanted for nothing.
On Feb. 22, 1956, Yolanda Jimenez eloped with Frank Carbajal, and the couple was married in a small ceremony in Lordsburg, New Mexico. The young couple soon found themselves in Los Angeles, California, alone and without the family she knew growing up. They stayed only a short while and then came back to the safe surroundings of home. They would soon welcome their first of five children, David, Gracie, Ruben, Arnold, then Stephanie would soon follow and complete their family.
Yolanda was a mother and a homemaker, and in these roles, she found the truest meaning of love in her life. She took immense pride in being there for her children by making their clothes, preparing three hot meals for them every day, attending their athletic and other school events, and by maintaining a loving, chaotic home filled with laughter and happiness.
Yolanda leaves behind four children, David (Rebecca) Carbajal, Gracie (Tim) Hemmerling, Arnold (Sherry) Carbajal, and Stephanie (Michael) Saiz; 14 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; 3 great-great-grandchildren, and a brother, David (Toni) Jimenez, and their children.
Yolanda was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 65 years; her son, Ruben; her daughter-in-law, Kathy, and her great-grandson, Dustin Hollowell.
A private family ceremony will be held at a future date. The family wants to thank the SEACUS Clifton Senior Nutrition Center and the Meals on Wheels staff for their daily interactions, kindness, and warm meals, as well as Greenlee County home health aides, emergency personnel, and close friends, family, and neighbors who checked in on our mother and grandmother. She appreciated it, and so do we. May God bless you all.
Arrangements are being cared for by McDougal’s Caldwell Funeral Chapel & Gila Valley Crematory located at 112 E. Main St., Safford, Arizona, 85546, (928) 428-1740, www.caldwellfuneralchapel.com.
