Edward Emerson Jr.

Edward Emerson Jr.

Edward Emerson Jr. passed from this life on Sunday, November 1, 2009.

He was born in New York City on January 2, 1927, to Edward Emerson and Martha Payne Emerson and grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was preceded in death by his wife of 30 years and the love of his life, Elizabeth Newman Emerson, who died in 1981. He then shared a 20 year marriage with Carolyn Emerson who is a beloved stepmother and grandmother to his family.

He is survived by a sister, Sheila Sadler of Beach Haven, New Jersey and Sarasota, Florida; and two brothers, Chris Emerson of Hood River, Oregon, and Job Emerson of Cape Cod, Massachusetts; six children and 10 grandchildren also live to remember him, Sheila Kelly and her husband, Jim Boggs, of Charleston, West Virginia, with children, Elizabeth Anne Kelly and John Asher Kelly; Edward Emerson III and his wife, Ellen, of Monroe, Connecticut, with their children, Edward Winthrop Emerson and Elizabeth Fargo Emerson; Kate Shumate and her husband, John, of Barboursville, Virginia; Peter Emerson and his wife, Deb, of Waynesboro, Virginia, and their children, Margaret Newman Emerson and Helen Payne Emerson; Elizabeth Lonergan and her husband, Kelly, of Woodberry Forest, Virginia, and their children, Ava Sinclair Lonergan and Peter Conway Lonergan; Laurie Neale and her husband, Tim, of Orange, Virginia, and their children, Lael Sinclair Neale and Samuel Henry Neale.

Unable to serve in the military in 1945 due to a physical complication, he volunteered in the American Field Service driving an ambulance for the British Army in the IndiaBursan theatre. Upon returning from overseas, he entered Yale University becoming a mainstay on the defensive line for the Eli football team and earning an invitation to play in the 1949 North/South Shrine All Star game in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. After graduating from Yale, he began his career in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the Peoples Natural Gas Company. He flourished until retiring in 1982 as Vice President and Director of the Consolidated Gas Transmission Company headquartered in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Ed was an active community volunteer in the Clarksburg area, coordinating watershed and other environmentally oriented projects.

Ed Emerson was a man who loved nature and animals. He had a passion for upland bird dogs and was involved in Field Trials up and down the east coast, eventually serving as president of the Orange County Field Trial Club in Baldwinsville, New York. Retiring to Virginia in 1982, he became secretary of the Association of Virginia Field Trial Club. For years, he organized and ran the Eastern Open Shooting Dog Championship and was a field trial judge who was much in demand from Maine to Florida. Over the years, he bred and raised several champion setters and established a respected bloodline in the field trial community.

An artist, a musician, a philosopher, and a voracious reader, he was a well-rounded and fascinating man. He was a jazz music aficionado who pursued that hobby as a drummer throughout many years of his life. His passion for football and the Pittsburgh Steelers never waned.

He was a gentleman in every respect, a wonderful father who deeply loved his children and grandchildren and a friend to many. He once said "As I approach my last years, I wish I could do it all over again. With very few exceptions, I would gladly relive the years that gave so much to me. I hope in some small way that I have given something back".

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, November 27, 2009, at Ed Emerson's Heather Glen Farm.

Charitable donations may be made to the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Association, or the charity of your choice.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.