Honoring Vanessa Young
IN MEMORY OF VANESSA YOUNG
1957
2025
Celebrating Vanessa's Legacy
In Memory of Vanessa Young is a website dedicated to honoring and commemorating the life and legacy of Vanessa Young. She was a beloved member of our community and will always be remembered for her kindness and grace.
Contribute to the Book of Vanessa
The family requests stories about Vanessa Young that can be shared with all that loved her.
Please email a story about your relationship with Vanessa or use the form on this webpage. The submission form can be found by clicking the Contact option at the top of this page.
All stories about Vanessa will be published on this site, or you can email and request a printed copy.
A Life Well-Lived
Obituary
On October 30th, 2025, Vanessa Dale Young, 68, passed peacefully into her next life. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 15th, 1957, Vanessa was the second born child of the late Arthur L. Young and Leontyne Luckett.
Vanessa was always a gifted student and graduated early from Manual Arts High School in 1974. She graduated from Mount Saint Mary’s University with her Bachelor of Nursing in 1978. In 1998, Vanessa earned her Master of Nursing Science from California State University, Dominguez Hills, where she was invited to join the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi due to exemplary academic performance. Vanessa would later become Legal Nurse Consultant, in 2006 due to her interest in health care law.
Vanessa began her nursing career as a staff nurse at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1986, and would retire as the Assistant Director of Nursing for High Desert Health Systems in 2022. In 1998 Vanessa decided to pursue her passion for teaching and was hired at Concord University as the clinical supervisor of vocational nursing students. In 1999, Vanessa accepted a full-time position at Antelope Valley Community College pulling double duty as a theory and clinical instructor for vocational nursing students, and the Program Director for the Certified Nursing Attendant Program.
Vanessa was passionate about patient care and often focused her efforts on working with disenfranchised populations. She worked as an HIV/AIDS educator during the 1980s, and also championed the ethical treatment of partners and children of intimate and domestic violence in hospital settings.
In her free time, Vanessa was an avid reader and writer, favoring the novels of Stephen King and medical non-fiction. Vanessa was also the editor in chief of The Heartbeat, a quarterly periodical published during her tenure at High Desert Hospital.
Vanessa is survived by brother; Arthur Young (Sonya Young), children; Tyesha Mckeever (Cindie Sanden), Tiffany Piper; grandchildren Samantha White, Zoey White; nephews, Tyrone Young (Susan Young), Timothy Young (Kathy Young), and cats; Q-Tip, Quincy, and Amy.
A memorial service will be held from 10am to 12pm on Saturday, December 6th, 2025 at Joshua Memorial Park & Mortuary in Lancaster, California. In lue of monetary donations, the family requests donations be made in Vanessa’s name to the March of Dimes or the ASPCA.
For more information on the memorial service or to leave the family a message please visit www.rememberingvanessa.com.
Her Legacy
VANESSA'S MEMORIES
