Katherine Shelley Emrich

Katherine Shelley Emrich, nee Dierssen, beloved mother, grandmother and great- grandmother died peacefully at her home in Evanston, Sept. 20, 2009, at the impressive age of 96. Katherine, also known as "Kay," was born in 1913 to Irene and Ewald Dierssen of Logan Square in Chicago. She was the eldest of five sisters, Bernice, Ethel, Fernella and Irene whom she would take downtown on the streetcar for ballet and swimming lessons. Together they attended Darwin Elementary School. Decades later her daughter-in-law, M. Graciela Shelley, would serve as Darwin's Principal for over a decade. Katherine went on to attend Kemper Hall in her teens, an Episcopal girls college preparatory boarding school in Kenosha, WI where she was inspired intellectually and socially and made lifelong friendships. She was captain of the basketball team and also a member of the field hockey team and was honored as Founder's Day Queen. During the depression era, Katherine was among a minority of women attending the University of Chicago. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in business and graduated in 1933. It was at the University of Chicago where she met classmate, Richard Paul Shelley. They would marry and have two children, John and Elizabeth, raising their family in Birmingham, MI and spending summers at their summer home in Torch Lake, MI. After her husband's retirement from 3M where he worked as a Sales Executive, the couple moved to Los Altos, CA. Her son, John, served in the Peace Corps from 1963-1965 where he met and married M. Graciela Shelley, a direct descendent of the author of the Chilean national anthem and the daughter of one of the founders of the Christian Democratic Party who had also served as Councilman and Mayor of Valparaiso Chile's second largest city. Her daughter graduated from University of Michigan, married Dennis Hayes and lived in California, Portugal and Washington with him. She currently resides in Naples, FL. Upon Katherine's husband's death in 1985, she returned to Illinois and settled in Evanston to be close to her children and grandchildren. Her irresistible charm captured the heart of another gentleman, C. Lyman Emrich Jr., a Rhodes Scholar, graduate of Oxford, Evanston civic leader and the then retired founding partner of an intellectual property law firm whom she married in 1992. They enjoyed the Evanston Dancing Club and Current Events group and were married until his death in 2005. In her final years, she was busy with family members, daughter, son, grandchildren and great- grandchildren. She enjoyed their annual family vacations to the Boyd's Mason Lake resort in the North Woods of Wisconsin and Thanksgivings at the Union League of Chicago. She was an avid reader and sports fan, mystery novel aficionado, and read the Chicago Tribune from cover to cover each day. Family members looked forward to her horoscope clippings on birthdays. Weather permitting, she could be found outside walking with her loving caregiver, Charlie and visiting with neighbors. Her son John said about her: "She was always so positive and supportive and genuinely devoted to those around her. She maintained a mental narrative of everyone and kept track of their lives in vivid detail." She lived a long and full life leaving a loving mark on everyone she touched. In addition to her son John (M. Graciela) and daughter, Elizabeth (Dennis); she leaves three grandchildren Robert (Kristin), Michael (Erin) and Stephanie (Mark); and six great-grandchildren, Katie, Sarah, William, Max, Camille, Josephine; two stepsons, Philip Emrich (Dee) and Jeffery Emrich (Stephanie); and three step-grandchildren, Chip, Parker and Elizabeth. There will be a Memorial Service held in her honor at Evanston's First Presbyterian Church, Saturday, Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.