Yolanda Chandler

Yolanda passed away on March 18, 2017 after a long illness. She was born in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil, on April 2, 1926, to Luiz Ximenes de Aragao and Corina Gurgel Noguera. She had two older sisters, Yeda "Marie" and Yvonne and three younger brothers, Ernie, Luiz Carlos, and Ivan (who died as a child).
During WWII, Yolanda worked temporarily as a bi-lingual clerk for the US Army at a military base in Forteleza. She worked for AT&T as an international long-distance operator in Rio de Janeiro before coming to the United States in 1948. On May 28, 1949, she married Garvis Chandler, the divorced father of three. This marriage lasted 53 years until his death on September 8, 2002. Yolanda became a US citizen on December 18, 1950. She graduated beauty school in Albuquerque and had her own shop for many years just outside the Kirtland AFB gate on Wyoming.
In the US, Yolanda is survived by her nephew, Russell Cobler and wife, Linda of Libertyville, IL; and cousin, Maria Riquet of Largo, Fl. Locally, her family consists of step-daughters, Faye Woods, Melba and husband, Richard Kaszuba, their children and grandchildren-who refer to Yolanda lovingly as Grandma; sister-in-law, Blanca Aragao; and good friends, Emily and Gary Whitney. In Brazil, she is survived by her brother, Luiz Carlos; and niece, Elizabeth "Bete" Almeida; and by several other nieces and nephews in America and Brazil.
The family wants to express their gratitude to Sherri Castillo, Roland Rivera, Eliza Trujillo, and the other caregivers of NM Health Care Systems Corp. Trevino Manor for the excellent and loving care they have given Yolanda the past two years and to the caregivers from Hospice de la Luz for easing Yolanda's last few months. Services will be on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 2:00 p.m. at Chester T. French Memorial Mausoleum Chapel, 924 Menaul Blvd. NE with visitation beginning at 1:00 p.m.