Dorothy Yardley, Former Balboa Bay Club Official

Dorothy Yardley, former social director at the Balboa Bay Club, died Thursday in a convalescent home here where she was recuperating from surgery. She was 88.

Mrs. Yardley was called “the friend of presidents” because of friendships she made with former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, said Linda Essig, a spokeswoman for the Balboa Bay Club. The former Presidents met Yardley while visiting the Balboa Bay Club, and lasting friendships resulted, Essig said.

In addition to social director, Mrs. Yardley at one time served as advertising manager for the Balboa Bay Club’s publication and also as public relations director.

A native of Illinois, she was married to the late George Yardley, who had been a star football, baseball and basketball player at the University of Chicago. Their sons, George Yardley III and Robert Yardley, were also star basketball players--George III at Stanford University and Robert at the University of Colorado.

George Yardley III, who played for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Assn., was the first player ever to score 2,000 points during an NBA season. He was inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.

Mrs. Yardley is survived by her two sons, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

The funeral will be private. A reception in Mrs. Yardley’s honor will be held at the Balboa Bay Club at noon Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made either to the Assistance League of Newport Harbor or to Hoag Hospital.