Yvonne Clay Cook, a native of Norfolk, Virginia transitioned from this life after a fatal single car accident in Richmond Virginia, where she made her home. She was 69 years old. Born on June 20, 1943, she was the first child of Haywood Augustus "Jake" Clay, and Eunice Bailey Clay. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1961, she attended Hampton Institute, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business in 1965. Yvonne approached life as an adventure, and a celebration. After leaving Norfolk, she lived in Woodstock, NY, Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, and Memphis, TN. She was an early pioneer in computer programming and data management working for companies such as IBM, Honeywell, Polaroid, Kodak, Hughes Aircraft, and Federal Express. She retired to Richmond in 2004. Yvonne was an accomplished landscape and still life painter. She was a talented pianist, voracious reader, and cherished advisor to family and friends. She taught art to children, volunteered with rescue horses, and was a serious dog lover. In February 2013, she published her first book, "The Metamorphosis of An Authentic Spirit", fulfilling a lifelong ambition. She is survived by her sister, Patricia Clay Shirley, and brother-in-law, Edwin S. Shirley, both of Farmington, CT, two nieces, Erica Lorraine Shirley of Washington, DC, and Yvonne Michelle Shirley, of Brooklyn, NY, and a host of cousins, loved ones, and close friends. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Pets First Animal Hospital, 9201 Staples Mill Road, Richmond,VA 23228 and to the Artspace Gallery, 31 East 3rd Street, Richmond, VA 23224