Bennie Louise Mull Yaus
Bennie Louise Mull Yaus, 87, of Charlotte, N.C., passed away Wednesday, May 25, 2022 surrounded by her loving family.
Bennie Louise was born on July 5, 1934 in Hayesville. She was one of eleven children born to the late Joseph and Martha Mull. They all lived in a four room house off of Matheson Cove. This is where they raised chickens, hogs, cattle and horses. She would often tell the story of when they would hitch up the horses to their wagon and ride into town to go to church. She also would tell stories of when she hoed corn in a corn field. Her father, Joe, did share cropping. She went to the same school for 12 years. In her high school years, she played varsity basketball, which she really enjoyed. Bennie was excellent at playing basketball. Since there was not work in Hayesville, when she graduated, Bennie had her suitcase packed and was ready to hit the road of opportunity. She decided to go to Canton, Ohio where her brother Bill lived. Bennie then located a job at a local pretzel factory called Halters Pretzels. This is where she met her lifelong love and soon to be husband, Bill Yaus. In the pretzel factory, Bill ran the machines that made the pretzels. The pretzels fell onto a moving screen where they would go through the oven to be baked. However, some of the pretzels did not form evenly so there was this beautiful brown-eyed, long black-haired lady with a hooked rod end and the lady would grab the pretzel with this rod and put it in a container to be used again. This was my beautiful Bennie. She was called a cripple picker.
They dated for one year and then got married in 1954, in Fort Wayne, Ind. They had a little trouble though trying to get married there. They had to have a witness and could not find one. They even tried asking a complete stranger off the streets. That person wouldn’t do it for them either. So, the two being determined as they were, they drove back to Canton, Ohio to Bill’s house to get his mother to do it and of course she did. After a few years, they moved to Charlotte. That is when Bennie got a job with Southern Bell. She started out as an operator with the telephone company and worked her way through to corporate. She had a great career there for 30 years and then finally decided to retire. As we all know Bennie, she was not the type to sit around and be idle. She then decided to go get a part-time job at Macy’s Department Store. Well, that career lasted a total of 14 years. She was often recognized as one of their top sales persons and many times awarded for her excellent teamwork and customer service. Often times Leadership would tell Bennie how they wished they could clone her. Her integrity, teamwork and dependability were outstanding.
Bennie learned to play golf and she loved the game. They played at least a couple of times a week. She also adopted the ability of horsemanship. That was such an enjoyment for her and her kids to get out and ride in the open fields or trails. Her love for her family was amazing and unconditional. Bennie worked hard and loved hard. She has two beautiful children, three grandchildren and six wonderful great-grandchildren. She loved her family so much. Her love will never be forgotten. She instilled in each of them huge values such as love, compassion and most importantly the love of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Bennie was a devout Christian and loved Jesus. Words cannot be said of the hole in our hearts without her in our lives today. However, we will go on and will always have our mom with us until we meet again in Heaven.
She was the daughter of the late Joseph David and Martha Jane Wimpey Mull. In addition to her parents, she was also preceded by two sisters, Eva Nell Wike and Mary Jo Bennett; and three brothers William Monroe, John Junior and Donald Roger Mull.
She is survived by her loving husband of 68 years, Carl William “Bill” Yaus; a son, Dennis Yaus and wife, Rhonda; a daughter, Connie Yaus Trent, and husband, Matt; three sisters, Ida Jane Rowland, Eddie Lee Garrett and Nancy Sue Laminack; two brothers, James Carl Mull and David Levone Mull; three grandchildren, Chad Tyler Kennington and wife, Anna, Haley Nicole Kennington Christenbury and husband, Will, and Taylor Lynn Solada; and six great-grandchildren, Abbey Christenbury, Luke Christenbury, Tyler Kennington, Elijah Moore, Nora Kennington and Caleb Solada. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 29 at the chapel of Ivie Funeral Home, Hayesville with the Rev. Mitchell Totherow officiating. Music was provided by Sue Laminack, Mike Garrett and Debra Ledford.
Interment was in the Hayesville Baptist Presbyterian Cemetery. Pallbearers were Dennis Yaus, Matt Trent, James Mull, David Mull, Charles Rowland and Ron Mull.
Ivie Funeral Home, Hayesville: www.iviefuneralhome.com was in charge of arrangements.