Ouachita County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....WILLIS, EMMA JEAN TRUESDALE June 19, 2015
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Gina Brown rootsgirl36@gmail.com June 26, 2015, 9:37 am

News Star World - June 21, 2015
EMMA JEAN TRUESDALE WILLIS

Emma Jean Truesdale Willis was born April 26, 1925 in the rural farming 
community of Ofahoma, MS. She died with family by her side at her daughter's 
home on June 19, 2015. She is survived by her husband of sixty-eight years, 
Elward Stanley Willis, who lovingly and faithfully cared for her through the 
debilitating later stages of dementia. She is remembered most for her sense of 
humor and for her hard-working and practical approach to life.

After graduation from Carthage High School, Emma Jean obtained her licensure as 
a sheet metal worker through the War Manpower Commission. She opted instead, to 
serve World War II effort briefly at the Mississippi Ordnance Plant in Flora, 
MS where she inspected ammunition powder bags and worked in the PX .

At the end of the war, she enrolled in East Central Junior College where she 
met her husband and made many lifelong friends. The couple were married over 
spring break 1947 in the lobby of the women's dormitory; the student body and 
faculty attended. She obtained her A.A. degree in Home Economics that same 
year.

The newlyweds then moved to Starkville, where they formed many lasting 
friendships with their neighbors in the Mississippi State University married 
student trailer park. While her husband pursued his engineering studies, Emma 
Jean worked at a cotton mill nearby. She often described how she applied her 
chemistry education in the formulation of custom dye orders at the mill. She 
became a full-time homemaker after the birth of their first child.

Following her husband's graduation from MSU, the couple lived in Vicksburg and 
then Jackson, MS until her husband was recalled during the Korean Conflict. 
They lived in many Army bases together and apart during those years. Following 
his tour of duty, the couple returned to Jackson and then resided in Yazoo City 
(MS), Birmingham (AL), Monroe (LA), and Slaughter (LA). After having lived in 
so many places, Emma Jean said that being a friend to the newcomer was her 
life's calling.

She was a member of several Presbyterian Church congregations throughout her 
life. She enjoyed gardening, sewing and playing bridge. She was an excellent 
cook. She was a member of the Chief Tusquahoma Chapter of the DAR, West Monroe 
(LA).

In addition to her husband, she is survived by their three children: Nancy 
Irene Deason, PharmD (E. Harold), Ellen Coretta Douglas, PhD (Carl L. "Mel") 
and Stanley Truesdale Willis; four grandchildren: Ellen Claire Douglas McCrary 
(W. Blake), Katherine Lynn Deason Burgess (Charles "Chuck"), Rebecca Jean 
Douglas Balestrini (Santiago) and Anna Marie Deason; four great-grandchildren: 
Mary Ellen McCrary, Preston Blake McCrary, Katherine Elizabeth McCrary, and 
Benton Blake McCrary; two sisters-in-law; and numerous nieces, nephews, and 
cousins. She was predeceased by her parents, Irene Elihu Burton Truesdale and 
Louis Jackson Truesdale, and by brothers, William Burton Truesdale (Caroline) 
and Bennie Dixon Truesdale (Mary Ruth).

Visitation will be at Charlet Funeral Home, 4230 High Street, Zachary, LA on 
Sunday, June 21, 2015, from 5:00 - 8:00 PM. Burial service will be held Monday, 
June 22, 2015 at 12:00 NOON at Forest Grove Presbyterian Church, 2252 Forest 
Grove Road Carthage, MS 39051-8332 followed by interment in the adjoining 
Church cemetery.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/ouachita/obits/w/willis4219nob.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/lafiles/

File size: 3.9 Kb