Yolanda Rodriguez Turlington, 103, passed away on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at Rolling Ridge Assisted Living Home in Newton Grove, with her sons by her side. 

            A Private Burial will be held in the Clinton City Cemetery followed by a Memorial Service at 4 PM, Thursday, January 23rd at First Methodist Church with Rev. Matt Seals officiating.  Friends will be received following the service in the fellowship hall.

            Born on June 1, 1921, in Santiago de Cuba, Yolanda was the daughter of the late Rafael Rodriguez Garcia and Rosa Ygnacia Hernandez y Castillo of Santiago, Cuba.

            Yolanda moved with her Parents, and family of six brothers and two sisters to Brooklyn Heights in New York City, New York when she was seven years of age.  Having attended Brooklyn College and while working as a secretary on Wall Street, she met her husband to be, David James “Jake” Turlington, Jr., of Sampson County.  The two were married on May 20, 1944 in the “Little Church Around the Corner” in New York City during the throes of World War II.  During the war, Yolanda served as a volunteer air-raid warden, while her husband, Jake, served in the FBI, stationed in New York City.

            After her husband’s completion of service in the FBI, the two moved to Jake’s hometown of Clinton, North Carolina, where Yolanda immediately began her service as legal assistant in Jake’s legal practice.  This is a service she provided almost fifty years.

            She was very active in the academic, athletic, musical, and church activities of her two sons, David James Turlington III and Robert Henry Turlington.  She was a loyal member of First Methodist Church of Clinton for over seventy-five years.  She took great pleasure in her family, church, and in the beauty of God’s world.

            Yolanda was preceded in death by her husband Jake, her brothers: Robert Rodriguez, Rene Rodriguez, Esteban Rodriguez, Ralph Rodriguez, Rodger Rodriguez, Radame Rodriguez, and her sisters: Raquel Williams and Gladys Zimmerman.

            She is survived by her sons, David James Turlington III (Martha) of Winston Salem, NC; Robert Henry Turlington (Lisa) of Clinton; two step grandsons, Phillip Strickland (Danielle) of Salemburg, NC; Forrest Strickland (Laura) of Louisville, KY; and five great grandchildren, Harper, Claire, Pearce, Shepherd, and Corrie.  She has a plethora of dear and devoted nieces and nephews as well as grand nieces and nephews, and even great, great nieces and nephews. 

            The family wishes to thank the First Methodist Church for their continued support of Yolanda, the nurses and doctors of Gentiva Hospice for their gentle care, and especially, the administration, nurses, and staff at Rolling Ridge Assisted Living Home for their kind and gracious care that they extended to mom during her stay at Rolling Ridge.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to First Methodist Church of 208 Sampson Street, Clinton, NC.