Renee Gray Yates

Renee “MamaBear” Gray Yates, age 69, joined her boys in Heaven on December 23, 2025. She was born on May 11, 1956, in Gadsden, Alabama, and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Stewart Gray.

In her younger years, Renee worked at HealthTex. After marrying her sweetheart, Michael David Yates, on September 19, 1980, she and her husband moved throughout the Southeast before settling in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1985. She served as office manager for Reliable Communications for 15 years before proudly resuming her most cherished role—that of a stay-at-home mother to her children, Matthew and Cora.

Renee was the go-to parent for all school projects involving literature and the arts and made certain her family never went without a warm, home-cooked meal. She lovingly continued caring for her children well into their college years at Auburn and throughout their adulthood. Making sure their fridge and pantry stayed full, she turned her kitchen into Renee’s Grocery and Diner, famously maintaining a long-standing “Tupperware war” between the two.

She was preceded in death by her sons, Matthew “Boy” Yates and Jonathan “Jon-Jon” Yates; her parents, Allen Stewart and Margaret Ramsey Gray; her parents-in-law, Loyal T. and Mabel Garren Yates; her brother and sister-in-law, Allen and JoAnn Gray; her brother-in-law and sister, Donald and Barbara Scales; and her sister, Brenda “BB/2 Cents” Gray.

Renee leaves behind her loving husband of 45 years, Michael “Big Poppa Yates/PapaCora” Yates; her daughter, Cora “Corabear” Yates; her granddogger, Sunshine; her four-legged children, Angel and Milo; her beloved pup-nephew, Lil Man; her sister, Cindy “Cinny Lou Who” (Michael “Cowboy”) Smedley; along with a host of nieces, nephews, and dear friends who will forever cherish her memory.

Visitation will be held from 6:00–8:00 p.m. on Monday, December 29, 2025, at Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, at Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home, followed by burial at Jefferson Memorial Gardens.

Pallbearers will be Michael “Cowboy” Smedley, Ryan “King” Smedley, Shane Gray, Garry Mintz, Gary Algren, and Dewayne Colvin.

Honorary pallbearers will be Tony Gross, Zach Nelson, and Dennis Mitchell.