Elene H. Emerson's Obituary
Elene (Hagen) Emerson passed away on January 5, 2016. She was born at home on the family farm, about 2 miles North of Wilbur, Lincoln County, Washington to Herman and Elida (Erickson) Hagen on October 26, 1922.
Graduating from Wilbur High School in 1940, she was given the opportunity to attend Pacific Lutheran College by a widow who was a member of the Wilbur Lutheran Church and who had no children of her own. They both shared the same birthday and that made Elene special to her. While attending college, she worked for room and board. After graduation, she taught for 6 years at Collins School (now a part of the Franklin Pierce District).
She married Ralph “Bud” Emerson, her lifetime love, in 1947 in the church in Wilbur. In 1968, she returned to teaching at Mary Lyon School in Tacoma where she taught for 11 years and put their two sons through college.
In 2007, she went to the Collins School 100th anniversary reunion where she saw 9 of her 2nd grade students from 1943. She greatly enjoyed seeing them as adults and it boggled her mind that they could be retired and be grandparents. It surprised them to see their 2nd grade teacher still alive. She expressed pride in all of them.
Elene volunteered at the Thrift Troll Shop in Parkland helping the effort towards a Scandinavian Cultural Center. When the Center opened at PLU in 1989, she was the Volunteer Chairperson for 4 or 5 years and then remained a volunteer for many years, receiving an Outstanding Service Award in 2007.
In 1982, Elene attended a day of classes at Daughters of Norway. The morning class was on cooking, and the afternoon was Norwegian craft classes. She watched as they demonstrated Hardanger Embroidery and knew she wanted to try it. She went to Gloria’s Scandinavian Shop, bought material, thread, and a book and became addicted to the craftwork. She got so good at it she taught some Hardanger Embroidery classes at the Cultural Center, Tacoma Lutheran Retirement Center, and at her home. She won a blue ribbon at the Puyallup Fair, at a Sons of Norway Convention, and at the fair held in Monroe, Washington.
In 2012, shortly before his death, Elene and Ralph celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. In 2015, at age 92, Elene became a great grandmother. She is survived by her two sons Rob (Lynn) and Mark (Kathy), 4 grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
A memorial service will be held at Kent United Methodist Church, 11010 SE 248th St, Kent, WA on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 1:30 pm. Please send memorial gifts to the Wilbur Cemetery Association, Habitat for Humanity, or a charity of your choosing.
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