We regret to announce the passing of Susan Yellen, age 71, of Gallatin, TN who passed away on September 6, 2021 following complications due to the Coronavirus.
She was born on April 20, 1950, to the late Edward Pearlstein and Irene Schwartz Pearlstein in Philadelphia, PA. She attended school in Philadelphia graduating Northeast High School in 1967; the first class to use the Philadelphia Convention Hall as a venue. She continued her education becoming a Medical Technician and subsequently working for a group of OB/GYN doctors.
Susan met a student from Temple University in 1970 on a blind date set up by her good friend and the student’s roommate. That student made a good decision to leave the slopes of New Hampshire and meet her; Howard and Susan were married on 18 March 1972. That began an almost 49-year journey of love and friendship.
In April 1972, Howard received his commission in the United States Army and they headed to Ft Benning, GA; never having been far from Philadelphia the first few days were culture shock and long bouts of tears. But her resilience and patience kicked in and she followed him throughout his 34-year career. Their late son, Michael was born at Ft Rucker, AL while attending Flight School and Eric was born at Hershey Medical Center while Howard was assigned to the faculty at the Army War College. When Howard was in Command positions, Susan focused her attention on the families of those soldiers. She was insistent that those families were well supported especially in times of deployment. In Howard’s retirement, she still focused on Soldiers, creating the Soldier’s Café for the annual Army Aviation Summit so that Soldiers would not have to pay the high costs of food at the Nashville venue.
Susan was a modest and loving woman and the introverted member of the family. She lived in a testosterone centric house, but all three men knew who was in charge. She always maintained one rank higher than Howard and never let him forget that Lady Night Stalkers Don’t Quit either.
She had a strong passion to cook and loved the Thanksgiving season. She was especially close to her Mother-in-Law (Doris) and relished all the time they could cook together. They also loved shopping together. Susan had an unabated love for her dogs, who were close to her heart. It started with her first, the Basset Hound (Daisy), and through a succession of English Springer Spaniels, Rufus, Buster, Molly, and now Max-a-million. She loved reading books of any kind and received a monthly supply of various cooking magazines.
Susan was preceded in death by her father, Edward Pearlstein, and her mother Irene Pearlstein. She is survived by her husband, BG (Ret) Howard Yellen, son, Eric (Melissa) Yellen, and step-brother, Richard Mayer.
A Celebration of Life service will be held at Hendersonville Funeral Home, 353 East Main Street, in Hendersonville on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 11 A.M. with visitation with friends and family one hour prior to service time. A reception will be held at the Yellen home (1260 Potter Lane, Gallatin, TN 37066) following internment.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA) Scholarship Foundation (https://www.quad-a.org/scholarship) or The Night Stalker Foundation (https://www.nightstalkerfoundation.com).
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