Ronald Mark Emerson, age 63, peacefully joined the Lord on April 21, 2022, with his family by his side. He was born October 16, 1958 in Edmond, Oklahoma, and resided in Louisiana since 1985. He is survived by his wife, Denise; five sons, Shawn, Jarrod, Brandon, Dustin and Nathan; and four grandchildren. He is also survived by his siblings, Becky, Frank, Harry, Mary, Tim, Margaret, Sam, John and Phillip; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Brandon and Elizabeth Emerson, and his sister, Angela. Ron enjoyed a 40-year career in the oil industry. He loved camping with his family and country music, and will be greatly missed for his humor, joy and cooking great feasts on a Sunday afternoon.

Memorial services will take place at 4:00 pm on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at Edmond Historical Society & Museum, 431 S. Blvd., Edmond, OK.

The Reverend Dr. Robert Carol Emerson was born in Gloucester, Virginia on April 29, 1935, to Rebecca Oliver and William Emerson. His family moved to York County, Virginia where he went to Poquoson High School. After a long break after graduation, he got the call to be a minister and prepared for his professional career at Carson-Newman College, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and The Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Upon his ordination, he served as the minister of Spring Hill Baptist Church in Cobbs Creek where his first son, Joseph Todd Emerson, was born. A few years later, he received a call to preach at DeBaun Memorial Baptist Church in Chesapeake. It was during this time where his second son, William Craig Emerson, was born. After a five-year ministry at his second church, he felt another vocation similar to the tentmakers and decided he would return to the family trade of brick masonry. After leaving DeBarun, he used his time to develop his theology a little deeper and wrote “Three Stages of Grace,’ and developed an interest in genealogy and wrote “The Life and Times of George and Rebecca Emerson.” In addition, he authored numerous essays about York County history, which resulted in the book “The History of Tabb in Retrospect,” and numerous other articles about the history of lower York County. In addition, he served a six-year stint as a guest political columnist for the “York Town Crier.” He is survived by Nancy Lee Palmer, his wife of 56 years, sons Joseph Todd Emerson and William Craig Emerson, daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Mary Zelenka Emerson, and grandsons Noah William Emerson and Daniel Stephen Emerson. He leaves a long line of extended family to cherish his memory and sense of humor, including an older brother, Sherwood Emerson of Poquoson. He requested the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul’ be played at his funeral. He wished everyone to know that he loved his life, and he loved his family.

A funeral service was held 11 a.m. Saturday, April 9th at Bethel Baptist Church in Yorktown. The burial will privately follow at a later time at Parklawn Memorial Park in Hampton, Virginia.

He made his transition on April 5, 2022.

Philip Lee Moore of Seaford passed away on July 27, 2021. He was born on August 15, 1945, to Fay S. and Ethel Mills Moore.

Phil, a 1965 graduate of York High School, had a distinguished career as a sign painter and artist for Colonial Williamsburg. His achievements included hand-painted artwork of Queen Elizabeth’s carriage when she visited Colonial Williamsburg, hand-painting the Virginia seal on the podium in The General Assembly in Richmond, and painting golf bags for professional golfers such as Curtis Strange. An independent museum advisory firm featured Phil in one of Colonial Williamsburg’s museums, highlighting his talents and importance to Colonial Williamsburg.

Phil had three passions. He loved to scour the shoreline looking for oddities and artifacts. He was also a blue-ribbon winner duck decoy carver. In addition, he had a tremendous love for golf. Each of these was clearly obvious as he turned his entire house into a living museum displaying all three of these passions. In addition to his parents, Phil was preceded in death by his only sibling, Fay S. Moore, Jr.

He is survived by his son, Richard M. Moore (Kris), and two daughters, Regan E. Brecke (Stefan) and Miranda L. Moon (Austin). He was known as Chippy to his eight grandchildren, Dylan (Taylor), Megan (Aubrey), Gibson, Mathias, Caroline, Jackson, Avery Marie, and Andrew, as well as his two great-granddaughters, Madelynn and Blakelynn. He is also survived by his former wife, Amy Emerson Moore, and other relatives and friends.

A memorial service was held on Sunday, August 1^st, at Zion United Methodist Church followed by burial in church cemetery.

February 10, 1966 – April 9, 2019

Robert D’Roy Gilbert, 53, passed away April 9, 2019. He was born in Oklahoma City on February 10, 1966. Rob spent his childhood in the Edmond/Guthrie area, as the oldest of 6 siblings, and remained in the area until his passing.

Rob began his work career as a roofer and continued to hold a variety of jobs in the construction industry. He cared deeply about family. He was attentive to the needs of others, especially to those of his mom. He enjoyed listening to music, tinkering with cars, working in the yard, and interacting with his many long-time friends. Throughout his lifetime he had several dogs that were his constant companions and were greatly prized by him.

He is survived by his mother, Becky Gilbert of Edmond and his father, Bob Gilbert of Perkins, his siblings, Chris Gilbert, of Guthrie, Jeff and Christy Gilbert of Edmond, Mike Gilbert, of Guthrie, Karen and Donnie Billings, of Edmond, Chad and Chrissy Gilbert of Guthrie and Stephen Gilbert of Madill, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Carol Dixon Emerson, 66, departed this life on Friday, May 25, 2018, surrounded by his family at home and went to be with his Lord where he will spend eternity. He graduated from York High School class of 1971 and was a former Fire Fighter and EMT with York County, the Coast Guard Stations at Fort Story and Yorktown. He followed in his father’s footsteps as a brick mason for many years. He enjoyed scuba diving and treasure hunting. He was an active member of Mahone’s Brigade, CSA and participated in many Civil War re-enactments. He was a much loved volunteer at Warwick Gardens retirement community. Carol was the son of the late Frederick Wray Emerson, Sr. and Anne Hudgins Emerson. He was also preceded in death by his brother Larry Oliver Emerson. He is survived by his children, Mary Anne Emerson of Yorktown, CD Emerson of Yorktown, Darlene Riffe of Grafton and Lisa Tingler of Roanoke; a sister Cheryl DeZego and two brothers Frederick Wray Emerson, Jr. and his wife Sandra, Garry Tabb Emerson all of Seaford, 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his former spouses Brenda Dudley, Sandra Maher, Joyce Emerson and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family will receive friends at Bethel Baptist Church from 1:00 to 2:00 on Thursday May 31, 2018. A celebration of his life will follow at 2:00 p.m. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 11835 Canon Blvd. Suite A-201, Newport News, VA 23606 or the and Alzheimer’s Association 6350 North Center Drive, Suite 102, Norfolk, VA 23502. Arrangements by Amory Funeral Home, Grafton, VA.

Published in Daily Press on May 27, 2018

Proud parents and grandparents

are looking forward

to Noah William Emerson’s arrival

on December 21, 2016.

Congratulations to Dr. Joseph Todd Emerson (son of Robert Carol & Nancy Emerson), whose article, “Teaching from the ‘Write’ Side of the Brain: Fiction Can Play an Important Role In Your Classroom” was published in the February 2016 issue of the Virginia Journal of Education.

I’m proud to be a third-generation public school teacher. While my parents would say my destiny was to be in the classroom, teaching was not my first career choice when I was coming of age. For several years, I intended to go to New York and fulfill a fantasy of becoming either a cartoonist or making a living in the comic book industry. In adolescent zeal, I declared myself the next Charles Schulz — the world would laugh, cry or do both based upon my four-panel creations. (Download the complete article below.)

Download (PDF, 1.8MB)

Nel’s Funeral Message

November 18, 2015

By Robert Carol Emerson

Someone has said, “It’s not how long you live but how you live that’s important.” Nel did both; he lived a long life, and he lived it well. To live 92 years is an accomplishment, but to live all of those years well is quite extraordinary. We are here today to celebrate Nel’s long life and to ask how did he manage to live those years so well.

It seems that his secret to success was that he held all the various elements of life in proper prospective, the good, the bad, the happy, the sad. In today’s jargon, he had it all together; if things went wrong, he didn’t fall apart; if things went well, he was not overly elated. He kept all the various elements of life in proper prospective. The third chapter of Ecclesiastes pictures the keeping of all things in balance.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time; I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; also that it is God’s gift to man that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil.

“A time for war, and a time for peace.”

I remember the day when Nel left home to join the Navy. That was more than 70 years ago and I was only 7 years old; so my memory is sketchy, and I only retain that single scene of him leaving. We were living on Airville farm in Gloucester at the time. I was up-stairs looking down at the driveway where Nel’s maroon, convertible, 34 Ford was waiting – that old 34 Ford was quite “the cat’s meow” in that day. Nel got in the car and another brother drove him to Gloucester Courthouse to catch the Greyhound bus to take him to the induction center. Being a 7 year old boy I didn’t comprehend the horrors of war (still don’t) but I sensed the fear and sadness of the family. As I watched the car pull away, I prayed a 7 years-old’s prayer, “God, bring Nel back home.” That’s all I remember.

Nel did come back home, but there was no certainty about that. He became involved in the Pacific theater, and at the close of the war out of desperation, the Japanese started using suicide bombers in which the pilot would intentionally crash his plane into the allied ships. Both Nel and another brother, Chester, were vulnerable to these threats to their lives. There was a real possibility that they would not come back. How different our lives would have been—some of us would not be here—all our lives would have been radically different.

I raise this possibility to show how great it was that he did come back. We are gathered here today to celebrate that long, good life that Nel was given to live. We recognize that all of life is a gift from God and we are here to show how grateful we are for that. We celebrate today, not what is taken away, but what was given.

Nel’s time for war was just a fraction of his life, but his time for peace was a long and good life. Peace is more than the absence of war; it is shalom or serenity within the wholeness of life. To this day, the Jewish people use the word, shalom, as a greeting or a farewell to express a blessing of total wellbeing, wellbeing of the spiritual, the physical, the mental.
Ecclesiastes 3 is about this inner peace from knowing that God is in control amid all the various elements, the good, the bad, the happy times, the sad times. Nel had inner peace; in today’s jargon “He kept it all together,” and he didn’t fall apart if things went wrong.

The Apostle Paul said, “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.” (Phil. 4: 11) Nel had that “blessed assurance” that allows us to sing, “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well with my soul.’”

“A time to love, and a time to hate.”

Nel found a time to love at Ralph Robin’s restaurant when he met Ruby West, and she became the love of his life. Whoever coined that phrase could have had Nel and Ruby in mind. Probably, the phrase “love of his life” has been around for a long time, but Nel’s love of Ruby and hers of him certainly defined that phrase.

Nel had many times of love: he loved his wife, family, sons, grandchildren, great grandchildren—they called him “Honey” and he was a real honey to them. He loved God and the church – long before this sanctuary was built or the building next door. He loved his neighbors, and they loved him. He loved his work at Boulevard Cleaners—he must have loved it; he worked there for 60 years. He knew what the writer of Ecclesiastes meant by “it is God’s gift to man that everyone should … take pleasure in all his toil.” He loved his heritage, country, and being a WWII vet, – he had his baseball caps with the veteran logos to show it.

He loved his home and kept it spotless, his lawn and kept it trimmed even when he was using a walker to get around. One night when he told me he had cut his grass that day, I said, “Nel, you’re walking around with a walker, how in the world can you push a lawn mower?” He replied, “I can walk behind that lawn mower as well as I can behind the walker.”

I can understand about the lawn mower, but running the rotor tiller in his garden????? He loved his garden and we talked about it a lot. He’d tell me about something that was growing so well in his garden, and I’d tell him about something that was not growing so well in mine. He’d give me advice about how to get better results. One year I told him that the texture of the soil was not right; it was not exactly clayey; rather, it was more like little granules. He said, “You ploughed the land when it was too wet.” So there must be a time to plough and a time not to plough like there is “a time to sow and a time to reap,” “a time to plant and to pluck up what is planted.” Maybe, that’s the reason he loved that garden so much—because he was in tune with the rhythm between the garden and seasons. And that was emblematic of his being in sync with the circle of life.

He loved his heritage as an Emerson growing up on a farm in Gloucester. When I was researching our family history, Nel would help clarify the relationship between distant cousins and sometimes would relate a story about the persons. I had accumulated various pictures from family albums some of which I could not identify. One day I gathered up a batch of these old photos, and Nel, Nancy, and I sat around his kitchen table for 2 hours or more talking about people in the pictures and how things were back in the day. As we were leaving, Nel said, “You know, I really enjoyed this afternoon looking at those old pictures.”

To sum it all up: he loved life.
“A time to love and a time to hate.” If Nel had a time to hate, I never knew about it.

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh”

“A time to weep, a time to mourn.” It is right and proper, even healthy, that we grieve. It is not a time to ignore nor forget because grief serves a purpose. It is a time that we face and accept a new reality. But we must keep our sorrow in prospective: Nel’s death is our loss, not his. When Jesus was carrying his cross to Golgotha, there was a group of women crying and he said to them, “Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves.” We do not weep for Nel; he’s in a better place, but we weep for ourselves because we will sorely miss him.

Grief is a type of thanksgiving. Sorrow is recognition of value. No one grieves about losing something that is worthless. To appreciate is to see value. So weeping and mourning are expressions that we appreciate and are thankful for that good life that Nel lived.

“A time to laugh.” Nel had a ready smile for everyone and it didn’t take a lot to turn that smile into a laugh. He laughed easily and often and that optimism was contagious.

This picture of Nel, Ruby and another brother, Herbert, was taken in Nel’s den. Ruby’s health had deteriorated to the point that she was confined to the recliner; Nel had had serious heart surgery both before and after this picture was taken; Herbert had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. They all had life threatening conditions; yet, they were laughing, not just smiling for the camera, rather they were enjoying the moment. I like this picture because it says there is a time to laugh and that time is not dependent upon physical conditions.

“A time to be born, and a time to die”

Ecclesiastes says that there is “a time to die,” and then in the same context says “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Is it possible that death is beautiful? Nel and Ruby are together again; how beautiful is that!

At the beginning of this service the pastor read from the Book of Psalms: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” The key to understanding that verse is the phrase “in the sight of the Lord.” Someone has said, “Prayer is seeing the world as God sees it.” The point of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes is to allow us to see all the various elements of life from God’s prospective.

“He has made” is the key to understand that everything is beautiful. Everything is not beautiful in and of itself; bad things happen; things get ugly. But “God works in all things for good.” Within the ugly things, God “has made” beauty. In the ugliness of crucifixion, God has made resurrection.

Death, even this death, is beautiful because “this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” Thanks be to God who has made all things beautiful.

This service will be concluded at the cemetery after we sing, “How Great Thou Art.”

As much as we rejoice that Nel has been reunited with his beloved Ruby and the rest of the family who preceded him to heaven, we have heavy hearts for Tommy and all the family who are left behind and miss his presence. Please keep the family in your prayers. 

Thomas “Nel” Nelson Emerson

Born: July 15, 1923
Died: November 13, 2015

Ginny Emerson and Debanjan Dasgupta were united in marriage on Saturday, October 10, 2015 at Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, VA.

Ginny is the daughter of Mark & Ann Emerson of Stafford, VA; and the granddaughter of Herbert & Nora Emerson.