Yvonne Lee Hegeman — DOB March 15, 1937 – DOD April 5, 2026

Sitting in campsite #1 at OFRC in front of a campfire, with a large stack of firewood nearby, was one of Yvonne’s favorite activities. She also enjoyed decades of weekly league bowling with the Monday Mixers, Bunco every month with the same group for years, and recently, Mahjong twice a week with three wonderful women. Yvonne had been a volunteer at the Goleta Valley Cottage hospital gift shop and enjoyed knitting and crocheting, often making lap blankets for the elderly. She was steadfast in her faith and actively worshipped at Emanuel Lutheran Church.

Yvonne Lee Halverson was born in Vallejo, California. She married her high school sweetheart, Richard Hegeman, after he graduated from the California Maritime Academy in 1959. A few years later, the family moved to Carpinteria after Richard accepted a job as a diving engineer with AC Delco Sea Operations in Goleta.

I always enjoyed hearing Mom talk about purchasing their home in Santa Barbara. It was 1964, they were expecting a third child, and Dad was working somewhere at sea. Mom went house hunting and found the perfect home for our growing family. With the help of her parents, Mom packed up and moved us all to Santa Barbara. A week later, Mom gave birth to a third daughter. To say that Mom was a strong, independent, capable women is an understatement!

Family was everything to Yvonne. Although she would say she didn’t like having pets, over the years she allowed us five kids to have a Guinea pig, several cats, hamster, lizard, Hungarian sheepdog, tortoise, and an iguana — whose cage was located near a sunny window in the kitchen.

Both Yvonne and Richard delighted in the activities of their eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren who brought them much joy — and more animals into their home.

Many family events took place in that Santa Barbara home they purchased in 1964, the same home they lived in until their deaths, Richard in January 2026 and Yvonne on Easter Sunday 2026.