Yvonne Edmisten

Yvonne Edmisten Yvonne Yik-Fun Hsu Edmisten of San Luis Obispo passed away peacefully on February 26, 2015 in the presence of her loving husband, John W. Edmisten. Yvonne was born in 1936 in Shanghai, China, to father Soo Kong Hsu and to mother Man Yau Hsu. Yvonne came to the USA from Hong Kong in 1959 to attend college. She started at the University of Washington. She did not like the weather so she moved to California to attend Sacramento State University and Sacramento Community College. Yvonne and John were introduced by a mutual friend and married on July 12, 1961. John and Yvonne decided to attend Cal Poly and moved to San Luis Obispo in 1962. Yvonne received her B.S. degree in Home Economics (major in Dietetics) in 1964. John received his B.S. degree in Engineering in 1965. After graduation, Yvonne and John relocated to San Francisco to pursue their work. Yvonne worked at Mary's Help Hospital and John worked in engineering and obtained his graduate degree. In 1968 John joined the faculty in Architectural Engineering at Cal Poly. Yvonne became a homemaker. They built their house in San Luis Obispo and lived in it for 40 years. It was in San Francisco that Yvonne found her love of opera and the performing arts. She was a volunteer at the San Francisco Opera. Upon moving to San Luis Obispo she became one of the founders of Opera Lovers Meet and was its enthusiastic Director for many years. She was a devoted supporter of the Pacific Repertory Opera and now its successor, Opera San Luis Obispo, along with Cal Poly's Student Opera Workshop. Opera San Luis Obispo dedicated its Opera "AIDA" to Yvonne and the upcoming Cal Poly Student Opera will also be dedicated to her. She was also a strong supporter of the MET's Live HD Broadcast at the Cal Poly PAC. Yvonne was a donor for the construction of the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center and a volunteer there for more than 15 years. She also volunteered at French Hospital for 10 years. At the time of her death she was a strong supporter of The Foundation for the Performing Arts Center. Yvonne and her husband have established a Community Foundation Scholarship and scholarship at Cal Poly. Last August Yvonne was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was treated by French Hospital and the Oncology-Hematology Medical Associates of the Central Coast and placed in Wilshire Home Care. But as the cancer continued to spread, her doctors placed her in the care of Wilshire Hospice at Home. As her condition worsened, she was moved to the Hospice Facility at Mission View where she passed peacefully. Her parents and brother, George Hsu, predeceased her. She is survived by her husband, John; her sister-in-law, Linda Hsu; brother-in-law, Victor Edmisten and his wife, Carmelita; sister-in-law, Linda Ochoa, and two nieces, Elizabeth Ochoa and Monique Edmisten. I, John Edmisten declare how grateful I am for the loving care of our friends and neighbors during Yvonne's illness I am grateful beyond words to the staff and nurses at Wilshire Home Care and Wilshire Hospice for their care of Yvonne. A friend and neighbor, Wanda, came to visit and the Hospice Harpist, Chris, came to play, and sang along with Wanda and I as my beloved wife Yvonne joined the angels without pain and at peace. Yvonne will be cremated and interred at Los Osos Memorial Park. A private visitation to her gravesite is planned for the future. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Yvonne's name to Wilshire Hospice, the performing arts or to a charity of your choice. Sign her guestbook at sanluisobispo.com/obituaries