Odette Foster-Yanka

1926 - 2020

Odette Foster-Yanka
Odette Harriau Foster-Yanka passed away peacefully on Thursday morning May 14, 2020, two weeks before her 94th birthday.
Odette was born on May 29, 1926, the second child of Paul and Rose Harriau of the Bronx, New York. She attended Hunter College in Manhattan, gained her degree in education and taught first grade students in Harlem, NY. Odette married Norton C. Foster in 1953; they lived in Scarsdale, NY, and had two children, Christopher and Michael. The family moved to Brussels, Belgium, in 1966 when Dow Corning opened its European headquarters there. They travelled extensively through Europe and enjoyed visiting Odette's numerous French relatives. They moved to Midland in 1972. Shortly after, Nort passed and Odette raised her two teenaged sons. In the early 1980's Odette met and married her second husband, Colonel Donald Yanka, who passed several years later.
Inspired by her French parents and heritage, Odette was active in Midland's French Club. She was a parishioner at St. John's Episcopal Church. She greatly enjoyed travel, bridge, walking, weaving on her loom, and making Belgian waffles. She was a long-time volunteer at the Midland Hospital Surgical Lounges supporting families. She loved visiting her grandchildren in Capitola, California, and invited the entire family on an Alaska Cruise to celebrate her 80th birthday in 2006.
Odette was strong, caring, and supportive of everyone who came into her life. She was never shy about expressing her thoughts and opinions. She drew in many friends over the years and enjoyed this extended family tremendously. During Thanksgiving, she would invite people who didn't have family locally, to join hers.
She spent the last four years of her life at King's Daughters Home, where she made many friends of both residents and staff and was lovingly known for her feistiness.
She is survived by her sons Christopher (Diane) of Grosse Pointe Farms, and Michael Foster of Capitola, CA, Michael's children Christopher and Christina Marino (Nick), and her sister Charlotte Thomas (Arthur) of Greenwich, CT. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband Norton, her second husband Colonel Donald Yanka, her sister Yvonne McConkey (Frank) and her brother Robert Raymond (Joan). Funeral services will be private. A celebration Odette's life will be held at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to King's Daughters Home or to the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland. Cremation for Odette has taken place. Arrangements and cremation services have been entrusted to the care of the Ware Smith Woolever Funeral Directors.