Yvonne, Yvette McCarther; Siamese Twins

Yvonne and Yvette McCarther, Siamese twins who were joined physically at the head and emotionally at the heart, have died in Long Beach, it was learned Monday.

The Rev. John Shepherd, who worked with them during their career as gospel singers and remained their friend, said the 43-year-old women were found in their home on Saturday.

Death, he said, resulted from natural causes, and their family has decided against an autopsy.

Services are pending.

They were 32 years old in 1981 when their existence was made public through a lengthy article in The Times.

It told of their birth at Los Angeles’ old General Hospital, how doctors had tried to persuade their mother, a then-divorced 38-year-old woman with five other children at home--four of whom survive--that she should institutionalize them. But there was this response:

“God gave them to me, so I guess he’ll show me the way to raise them.”

After a brief tour with a circus, to which their mother was forced to agree to because of thousands of dollars in medical bills, the girls grew up as normally as possible under the circumstances. Over the years, they developed a sense of humor about themselves, one feigning ignorance of the other, for example, when she would introduce herself to a boy.

The sisters had distinct personalities. Yvette was quiet and shy, Yvonne more outgoing. Yvette loved to eat, and Yvonne complained that she gained weight because of it.

They also shared an unflappable faith in themselves and humanity, reaching out to people who seemed taken aback by their strange appearance as they walked crab-like through the neighborhood.

Six years after their initial introduction to the frenetic world of the media, they were in the news again, this time as college students.

Over the objections of their then-ailing mother, who fought to protect them from the stares and gibes of strangers, they enrolled in Compton Community College.

It seems an unsolicited catalogue had arrived at their modest home and they discovered--simultaneously, as they did with all things--that there was a world beyond private tutoring and television.

“I just decided the time had come,” said Yvonne.

“Me too,” said Yvette.

Without discussing it with their mother, they called the school, determined that the high school equivalency certificate they had received through home tutoring made them eligible, and enrolled.

Because their academic skills had been dormant for so many years, they were assigned to basic math and English classes. To accommodate their new-found interest, the college ordered round tables and armless chairs to be moved into the classrooms where the young women would sit.

At their death, Shepherd said, they were looking forward to graduation this year with degrees in nursing. They had lived by themselves for five years after their mother’s physical condition worsened and she moved to a convalescent home.

Before deciding on nursing, though, the sisters had enjoyed a reputation for singing.

“They started singing gospel at the age of 6 and continued to have a long, beautiful career,” Shepherd said. “They traveled all over the United States, singing with most of the top gospel groups.”

In 1974, the women recorded “He, Sweet I Know” and “After It Is All Over Down Here.”

Despite a strong religious belief, they were not without their vices.

Both drank galloping excesses of coffee and smoked steadily.

They also said they often stayed up late and had trouble getting up early enough each day to get to class.

Monday mornings, they agreed, were particularly difficult.

“If I don’t get to bed by 1 a.m. (Monday morning), said Yvette, “I’m really tired the next day.”

“Me too,” Yvonne said.