Former Malibu resident Sally P. Yett died Nov. 8 from metastatic lung cancer. She was 71.
Yett was born in St. Louis, Mo. At Washington University in St. Louis she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta and graduated with a BFA degree in 1956. After graduation, she was a recreation therapist of the American Red Cross and director of the recreation therapy department of the Jewish Hospital St. Louis.
She married Don Yett on June 13, 1964 in St. Louis. They moved to Southern California in 1965, where Yett joined the USC faculty.
The family lived in Malibu from 1971 to 1984. While living in Malibu, Yett was active with the Juan Cabrillo PTA and Malibu Park JHS PTSA, serving as president of both organizations. She was also active with the Malibu Art Association, for which she served as president from 1982 to 1984.
Yett taught in the Malibu Methodist Preschool, a gifted art class at Juan Cabrillo elementary school and in special education at Santa Monica High School. She earned her teaching credential from Cal State Los Angeles and taught in the Los Angeles Unified School district until May 2006, most recently at Nueva Vista Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School.
Yett won awards for her art that was exhibited at the Malibu Art Festival, the Malibu Art Association show, the Roberts Art Gallery and the California Art Educator Association convention. Perhaps her most famous artwork is a mural she and her art students painted at Nueva Vista with a grant from the California Community Foundation in 2003.
Yett was active in many organizations, including Making History L.A., International Studies Overseas Program, Gene Autry Museum, California Art Education Association, Art Museum of Long Beach, Shakespeare Festival, L.A. County Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Museum of Latin American Art, People-To-People International, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Society for Calligraphy.
Yett is survived by her husband, Don, and her sons, Stephen and John.
A funeral service will take place on Saturday at Forest Lawn, Long Beach, located at 1500 East San Antonio Drive. The service begins at 9:30 a.m.