Rash's Surname Index
Notes for James Biddle YARNALL
James Biddle Yarnall, 82, of Newtown Square, a retired University of Pennsylvania administrator who directed study-abroad programs, died of lung cancer March 22 at Bryn Mawr Hospital.
In 1961, Mr. Yarnall was appointed director of the new Office of Fellowship Information and Study Programs Abroad at Penn. For 25 years, he developed and administered programs for undergraduates and postgraduates and helped numerous young people through the intricate process that led to their becoming student ambassadors in foreign lands.
When Mr. Yarnall retired in 1986, a university publication credited him with "creating from scratch Penn's study-abroad programs, which now span the globe." Students often thanked him for the experiences he opened up for them, his son Stephen said.
After his retirement, Mr. Yarnall devoted energy to fly-fishing and golf. He was a member of the Merion Golf Club, the Pine Valley Golf Club in Clementon, and the Loblolly Pines Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., where he and his wife, Phyllis Aspen Yarnall, wintered. He was a member of the Divotees Social Golf Club, a local outfit that meets monthly to play golf.
Mr. Yarnall attended Germantown Friends School and graduated from the Westtown School, where he captained the baseball team and played soccer and basketball. He was named most valuable athlete in his senior year. His ancestor Owen Biddle, a Quaker scientist and merchant, helped establish the school in 1799.
During World War II, Mr. Yarnall served in the Army Medical Corps in the States. After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, where he played soccer, sang in the glee club, and was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity.
He then had a brief stint as a General Motors field representative. His duties included repossessing cars, and his experience as a repo man produced many a great tale, his family said.
Mr. Yarnall taught English and was director of athletics at High Mowing School in Wilton, N.H., and at Choate School in Wallingford, Conn., before joining the admissions staff at Penn in 1954. He and his wife married that year. They lived in Villanova until moving to Springton Lake Village, a retirement community in Newtown Square, in 2002.
In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Yarnall is survived by another son, James Jr., and three granddaughters.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. April 25 at the Westtown Friends Meeting, 975 Westtown Rd.
Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1626 Locust St., Philadelphia 19103.
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