Laura Uberbacher Yavelow

Laura Uberbacher Yavelow, a medical technologist and epidemiologist died of a rare neurological disease at Solace Hospice on July 16. She was 63 and lived in Skyland. She worked as an immunization consultant for the NC-DHS before founding a clinical research monitoring company devoted to studies in infectious disease and cardiology. More recently, she has been an editor, including Executive Editor for the Camino Quarterly. Laura served on the Asheville Tree Commission for 6 years and at the time of her death she was Vice President of the Asheville Gideons Auxilliary. Born in Baltimore County, MD, Laura was a graduate of Dulaney High School, Towson University (Magna cum laude), and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she received her master's degree in Epidemiology and Health Planning & Administration. In 2008, she reconnected with Chris Yavelow at their high school reunion. They married in 2009 and traveled extensively in the USA, the Caribbean, Central America, and Europe. Avid hikers, they walked much of the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2012. Laura is also survived by her mother Frances Clark Kleiber of Lutherville, MD, sisters Lisa Thom and Julie Ensor, nieces Brittanie Thom and Nikki Gulgun, nephew Randall Thom, and stepdaughters Celina and Stephanie Yavelow. Her father Kenneth Kleiber and sister Judy Kleiber Gulgun preceded her in death. Services will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, July 26, at Groce Funeral Home, 72 Long Shoals Rd. in Arden. The family will receive guests starting at 10:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, the family graciously asks that you please consider a contribution in Laura's memory to The Gideons International, PO Box 1506, Asheville, NC 28802; or the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation, 341 W. 38th St., Suite 501, New York, NY 10018.