Richard Benjamin Emery

Richard Benjamin Emery passed away at home on November 30, 2006 after a long battle with cancer. Richard was born on November 1, 1933, son of Irving and Rosina Emery. He grew up in Montclair, NJ and graduated from Montclair High School. He attended Princeton University where he was a member of the varsity football and baseball teams and lived at Tiger Inn. After graduating in 1955, he served two years in the Army, stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. During this time he began his life long hobby of collecting, cutting, and polishing stones. He designed and created fine jewelry much of it with Arizona turquoise. Richard worked at the New York Telephone Company and AT&T for 35 years. Upon his retirement from AT&T in 1990 he moved to Tucson, AZ. He was the secretary and president of the National Exchange Club of Tucson and also volunteered at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in the mineral department. Surviving are Carolyn, his beloved wife of fifty years; daughters, Susan Payne (Claud), Jill Harrington (Marcus), and Elizabeth Sturtevant (Thomas); a brother John, and six grandchildren. A memorial service will be held in Essex Fells, New Jersey on December 19, 2006. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum at 2021 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona 85743.