I am the Sister of Local Wildlife Artist Jerry Yarnell. I am ashamed of the information I am about to divulge. I am sad, hurt, broken hearted and reeling in disbelief. My unbelievably talented brother has broken and disgraced his family. Ten years ago, Jerry was broke, over extended, his career floundering. Jerry went to my youngest brother Scott and his wife Diane to see if they could help him put the business back together and take over every aspect of the business. The idea was that if they could get things up and running he could just paint. The problem was that Jerry had no money or the credit to get any. My brothers wife, Diane offered her own personal credit card to purchase all the start up needs for the office and gallery as well as working capital to keep things going until they could get workshops and shows scheduled and begin an Art School.
Scott and Diane worked diligently at making the new business work. Everything worked exceptionally well. Soon our Mother and Father were asked to help out. They both worked for the next 10 years.
The workshops and shows increased yearly, the Art School became a huge sucess. Diane as office manager learned every aspect of the business, from daily dealings with client orders to the production of the a weekly televised Art Class on the local PBS.
During the past ten yeas life happened. Jerry's son married, grandchildren came along, Jerry's youngest son, handicapped from birth had come into his teens, with all the normal teen issues as well as teen issues in a handicapped world. The most difficult life change during this time was the death of Jerry's wife Joan. Joan had been ill for a long time. She dealt with her illness, Jerry's near fatal bout with cancer and her two son's and the weeks alone while Jerry traveled. To this day, he has never honored her with a marker for her grave. He has denied his son as well as her family the right to honor her as well.
During the time after the death of Jerry's wife and the adjustment that this always demands, things began to change. Jerry began asking for more and more money from the business. He was always given what he requested but often had to be reminded by Diane that they must stay on a budget in order to keep the business in the black. This was a concept that Jerry never understood. Jerry had money problems from the very beginning of his career right up to the present. One has only to look at public records to see the legal problems, bankruptcies, unpaid investors, broken contracts to see the trail that leads to today.
Jerry was spending more and more money. At one point he began a church and said it was for his oldest son... But when his son took it over there was no money left to operate the church... The doors were closed. His son was used as long as it was a help to Jerry then he was dismissed with no more regard. His son left, taking his young wife and family to make a life for themselves in another state. Jerry never saw them or his grandchildren again.
Soon Jerry began seeing a very young woman and asking for more money to entertain her.
Finally Diane had no choice but to tell Jerry that he just could not take any more money out of the business until he sold enough to make up the difference. That started a downward spiral and a splintering of any rational thought process that he may have had. He became argumentative, difficult, and demanding. It soon became apparent to Scott and Diane that something was desperately wrong and that they may need to call a meeting and either work out the problem or perhaps dissolve the business relationship..
Not long after this Jerry met another woman. He was sure that this was the one for him, he was estatic, and we were all equally happy for him... We all wanted him to be happy and thought that perhaps that was what he needed to settle down and get back to business...
That is not quite how things went. Almost from the beginning it was clear that Jerry's new woman was not going to be a team player.in a few short months, they married. Our parents were not asked to attend. None of us were asked to attend. Now that may not seem like such a big deal to some, however in our family it was not only a big deal, it was a deliberate slight and a precursur of things to come.
At this time I would like to say that our parents spent a great deal of money helping Jerry, when Jerry was dying of cancer they (as well as the rest of us) spent every minute at the hospital, looking after Joan, taking care of Josh. When Jerry recovered, he was allowed to come home but to be in one room, that had to be made sterile. Our Mother cleaned that room and the rest of the house for days, she cooked every meal for him and for Joan and Josh for nearly a year. Our Father, took care of every single thing around Jerry's home and made sure all the bills were taken care of. The rest of us offered our Bone Marrow to keep him alive. We all prayed non stop for God to spare him... We watched our youthful dedicated parents age ten years in that one.
It is important that it is known that the last thing anyone in our family would ever expect would be for one of us to stand against the other... And Never In A Court of Law. This man that did not have a nickel to his name ten years ago, almost overnight, Sued his brother, called his Mother a liar, posted publicly on Facebook, U tube and his Website that his Brother was trying to steal his business from him, that Diane and his Mother were telling clients that he was "dead" was "out of business" "was sick" "was not painting any longer"... Just think about that for a minute..
Not that it would mean much to anyone else, but our Mother is 85 years old and our Father is 88.
Our Father was owner/operator of a Printing Co. For many years and his honor, integrity, his word and his good name were never questioned... We all grew up knowing that honoring our parents and siblings was all that was expected of us... We always supported each other in all of our endeavors, we have always been there for one another and always the first to offer help if needed... We were always proud of Jerry and proud to point out his work. We have always known he had a pretty big EGO, but that was just Jerry. It is clear to all of us now that Jerry's EGO has consumed him.
Jerry and his wife Donna were asked to come to our parents home. They wanted to try and talk to them and find out why they were spreading these lies. Jerry became so defensive, he could not stay seated, he got in our Mother's face and screamed at her. He glared at his Father, and they walked out of the house... They left our loving, dervoted, elderly parents with broken hearts, sorrow beyond measure.
How do you live with the fact that the child you have given everything to, worked for, weeped for and loved has turned into a liar, cheat, scam artist, fraud, Christian in name only, phony, abusive, damaged soul. He has no respect for the law, or the mandate of the court, for his family or his God.
When you send a donation to his ministries (Not to be confused with Yarnell Ministries-Justin and Cindy Yarnell of Atlanta Georgia) Ask where the money goes, and who it is helping. You should not have to pay for him to pray for you. Just make sure those donations aren't going for personal use. He may be his own Ministry. His actions and words are of someone that is Godless! We all need to pray for him and Donna.
My Brothers, Sister in law, Mother, Dad, His Son, Grandchildren as well as myself, will never be able to get over this nightmare. Though Jerry has tried to accuse Scott and Diane of trying to steal his business and has gone out of his way to say he is no longer affiliated with any family members, that we are "EX"family. You have not heard or seen derogatory comments from them.
These facts are easy to check. I am not trying to stoop to his and Donna's level but it is worth thinking about... Jerry is an undeniably fantastic talent. He is a wonderful teacher. We hope he can continue to sell his beautiful works and teach others. However he should not have the right to continue to defame his family's good name, he should not be allowed to make untrue allegations about his brother and his wife. They stood by him and never let him down. He is trying hard to be someone he will never be. He has let Donna influence him and try to make him change his looks and even the name in which he has been know his entire life.
If you find this hard to believe and are saying you have followed Jerry for years, been to his seminars, taken his classes, watched his video's... Yes, I can clearly see how difficult this would be for you to believe. Believe this... We do know how it feels... I can tell you how his little coy smile looks, I can tell you how his laugh makes you feel, I know how charismatic he is... So was Jim Jones, Jim Baker, your Senator, Presidents, Ceo's or world wide companies... I am his sister... I have taken care of him as a child, been there for him as an adult, it brings me great sorrow to say these things., however I just cannot sit still any longer and let him continue to lie about our brother, hurt our Mother and Father or shame the Yarnell name.
If you were used to doing business with Scott and Diane, I am sure they would love to hear from you, I know many of you know "Mary" our Mother who took your orders for 10 years. She would love to know that there is still some goodness out there. I am greatful to everyone who has taken the time to read this... Our Best to All...
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