William V. Yatsonsky

He was an uncle, a grandfather and a father. The patriarch of a family whose life spanned some 93 plus years. His is a legacy that will live on for generations. That man, my dad, William V. Yatsonsky, went home to be with his God and his beloved wife, children and grandchildren on April 9, 2017.

He was most at home playing and singing with his guitar, puttering around in the garage or riding around in the ranger on his daily trips to feed the fish at one of the ponds in the back of the farm that he worked for nearly his whole life. He took great pride in the farm and instilled that knowledge in his sons and grandsons.

If there was a piece of equipment that needed to be fixed, he could fix it, which , often involved extracting the broken part from the machine, totally disassembling it, replacing the broken piece and putting the whole thing back together again. That saved us money, something that I recall wasn't always in great supply as a child.

It mattered not, my dad made sure we had everything we needed growing up even if he had to sell one of the cows to make it happen.

We had everything we needed, sometimes we had more. Never was there a time when we had a shortage of love. Love was plentiful and that was evident especially around the holidays.

Nothing brought more happiness and joy to my dad and my mom then when the holidays came and the whole family would come home to the farm when all the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren would visit and spend some time together. It was always a great time and the memories will last us a lifetime.

Dad loved my mom more than anything. He would do anything she wanted and I can remember when she was no longer able to cook that she would watch all of those cooking shows and then tell dad that he would have to make some certain dish she thought she would like.

My nephew Billy remembers that dad taught him everything about trapping and he will long remember all the nuisances about that. Julie said that dad told her she "put too many vegetables" in the soup but that it was still "edible." Just this past Friday, however, dad said Jimmy cooked bacon better than Julie.

Hopefully those won't be fightin words later on, haha. That must have been a kickback from his cooking days with mom. Who would have guessed he became such a gourmet cook. I remember once, when my cat Kisu died, mom made dad stop what he was doing in the middle of the day on the farm, take the backhoe and dig a six foot hole to bury my Kisu in. One Christmas, my nephew Douglas got a toy truck and my dad told him someday he would make a plow for it. Douglas looked him in the eye and said "how about today." Well you know, dad made that plow for Doug that very Christmas day. That's the kind of love we know from him, that's the kind of man he was and that was the value of his word.

He is survived by a sister Stella Moran, 98, of Mahwah, NJ and son Bill Moran and wife, Pam, children Patrick and Kelly Moran; Sister in law Josephine Appelbaum and son Charles Yatsonsky; Sons, Eugene and wife Joni, Honesdale, PA; Jimmy and wife Julie, Honesdale, PA, with whom he resided since sustaining an injury in May of 2016; daughters, Joan Yatsonsky, Waymart, PA , Mary Amidon and husband, Wayne, DeRuyter, NY; and Carol Rutledge and husband James, Tyler Hill, PA .Also surviving are grandchildren Jesse, Honesdale, PA , Samantha Yatsonsky, Baltimore, MD, Luke Amidon and wife Nina Amidon, Rockaway, NJ, Penny Haggart and husband George, New Woodstock , NY, and Daniel Amidon and wife Darlene, DeRuyter. Michael Yatsonsky and wife Brittany, Honesdale, Sara Yatsonsky and friend Travis Hollister, Mt Cobb, PA, Billy Yatsonsky and wife Ashley, Waymart, PA, and Douglas Yatsonsky and friend Samantha Fawcett, Honesdale,PA. Also surviving are great grandchildren Brian and Ben Amidon, Rockaway, NJ, Caitlin, Jacob and Emma Haggart, New Woodstock, NY, Alynna, Molly and Rebecca Amidon, DeRuyter, NY and great grandson Owen Michael Yatsonsky, Honesdale, PA. Also surviving are multiple great nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by brothers Bernard, John, and Paul and Alex Yatsonsky and sisters, Josephine and Cassie. Three sons, William, Vincent and Joseph, and two grandchildren Aaron Micheal and Summer Anne Tregaskis, children of daughter Joan.

There is a great void that fills the hearts of those who knew and loved William Yatsonsky. He is with his family in Heaven and at peace. We here will never be able to fill that void but will keep his love alive and with us always.

Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 12th at 10:30 A.M. in St. Mary's Church, 242 Carbondale Road, Waymart, PA 18472 with Rev. Joseph Sitko, pastor, officiating. The family requests that all attending go directly to the church.


Burial will follow in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Owego Turnpike, Waymart.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Jenkins Funeral Home-Edward Howell, Funeral Director, 269 Belmont Street, Waymart, PA.

www.JenkinsHowellFuneralHome.com