Greenbush - John Emery Sr., 81, of Apache Junction, AZ and formerly of Greenbush, died Monday, March 9, 1998 at Valley Lutheran Hospital in Mesa, AZ.
Memorial services will be held on Friday, August 7 at 11 a.m. at Oiland Lutheran Church, rural Greenbush, with Reverend Alan Arneson officiating. Special music will be provided by Chris Hamness and Kay Prothero. Burial will be in Oiland Lutheran Cemetery. Funeral services were also held in March in Mesa, AZ. The Gieseke Funeral Chapel of Greenbush is in charge of local arrangements.
John Kenneth Emery Sr. was born on July 30, 1916 in Winnebago, IL, the son of Frank and Vera Emery. When he was young, he moved with his family to a farm near Greenbush and attended school there. He farmed at Juneberry, near Greenbush, for many years. He also worked in Rockford, IL, at the shipyards in Duluth, at Garrison Dam in North Dakota, in the coal mines in Hazen, ND and oil fields at Tioga N.D. At Tioga, he was a shop foreman and also operated his own machine shop and radiator repair shop. A farmer at heart, John later moved to Delta, AK where he cleared land and farmed for many years.
He enjoyed trapping, hunting, and fishing.
John is survived by his wife of 53 years, Mabel; one son, John Jr. of San Francisco, CA; five daughters, Janice (David) Stenbak of Peoria, IL, Carolyn Jensen of Anchorage, AK, Kathy Emery of Pahoa, HI, Bonnie (Bob) Voermans of Mountain Home, AR and Johnetta (Ron) Engelkes of Rockford, IL; 11 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Frank (Leona) Emery and Delford Emery, both of Greenbush; and three sisters, Genevieve Brazier of Greenbush, Pauline (Wayne) Sanders and Faye (Dale) Swenson, both of Seattle, WA.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Warren Emery.