Alice Yarish was born Alice D’Alton Foley in Goldfield, Nevada, on April 25, 1909 to Judge Thomas L. Foley and Alice Dean Foley, who was the first woman to practice law in Nevada. After the family moved to Southern California in 1920, her first experience in journalism was working as a correspondent for the South Bay Breeze while she was still in high school.
She went on to attend University of Southern California and reported for the Daily Trojan newspaper. She studied law at Southwestern University for two years, but after the death of her parents, the tuition money ran out. While working as a cub reporter for the Los Angeles Express, her big break came as she rode her bike down the Hermosa Beach strand and spotted a black sedan with flags just as Eleanor Roosevelt exited.
She approached the first lady and introduced herself. Her story made the front page along with her first byline. During the mid-’30s, she worked as a social worker with the State Emergency Relief Administration.
In 1942, she married Peter P. Yarish, who was in the United States Air Force. Yarish was eventually transferred to Hamilton Air Force Base in 1948 and the couple settled in Novato on Yukon Way.
For 10 years, which she referred to as “forced domestically,” Alice Yarish focused on raising their four children and being a “military wife.” After the children were in school, Yarish became a reporter for the Independent Journal in 1952 at age 43. She moved on to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat .